Tom Lane wrote:
> The typical interaction I'd foresee is more like
>
> postgres=> select 2+2 (user forgets semicolon)
> postgres-> help
> postgres-> quit
> postgres-> exit
A part of this is due to the default PROMPT2 being too similar to PROMPT1.
The significance of '=' turning to '-' is easily lost on newbies.
By comparison, the mysql client seems a bit more intuitive
for this, with this presentation:
mysql> select 2+2
-> help
-> quit
-> exit
The "mysql" part is replaced by spaces on secondary prompts, so
visually it's more obvious that it's a different state.
The space-padding is necessary to keep the user input left-aligned.
Maybe PROMPT2 could be improved in that direction in psql.
For instance, I wonder if it'd be doable to have PROMPT2 with the line
number and proper alignment, so the above session could end up displayed
like this:
postgres=> select 2+2
2-> help
3-> quit
4-> exit
That way, the more lines are typed, the more it becomes obvious that
you're in a multi-line statement. Plus numbering lines might
be useful in general, anyway.
Best regards,
--
Daniel Vérité
PostgreSQL-powered mailer: http://www.manitou-mail.org
Twitter: @DanielVerite