On Tue, 24 Apr 2001, Paul Tomblin wrote:
> Quoting Bruce Momjian (pgman@candle.pha.pa.us):
> >
> > If someone can think of a clearer way to present it, we are all ears.
>
> Speaking for myself, the problem isn't that the information in \? isn't
> helpful, it's that I was expecting something more like "SHOW TABLE" or
> "DESCRIBE" which is how it's done on the previous couple of SQL dbmses
> I've used.
The challenge is that, for some databases, the database server itself
parses these commands, where, for PG, \d is turned into perfectly normal
PG queries to the system catalogs. (psql -E will let you see this
happening.)
I like our way much better -- once you've learned a bit about the system
tables, you can use them in any query, etc. However, many new users do try
DESCRIBE, etc.
Would it be worthwhile for psql / PG parser to notice these attempts and
bleat out some help? It doesn't quite seem worthwhile to me, but perhaps
others think it is.
--
Joel Burton <jburton@scw.org>
Director of Information Systems, Support Center of Washington