LinuxPPC/PG 7.0.2 .ctl file handling and \i comment parsing

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                         POSTGRESQL BUG REPORT TEMPLATE
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Your name        : Simon Banton
Your email address    : simon@web.org.uk


System Configuration
---------------------
   Architecture (example: Intel Pentium): PowerMac G3

   Operating System (example: Linux 2.0.26 ELF): 2.2.6-15apmac (LinuxPPC 1999)

   PostgreSQL version (example: PostgreSQL-7.0):   PostgreSQL-7.0.2

   Compiler used (example:  gcc 2.8.0): egcs-2.91.66 19990314
(egcs-1.1.2 release)


Please enter a FULL description of your problem:
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1) During installation of OpenACS (www.openacs.org), it is necessary to run a
shell script that executes a number of .ctl files:

#! /bin/sh

psql -f acs_geo_parents.sql $*

for f in *.ctl; do
     echo loading $f...
     psql -f $f $*
done

The format of the ctl files is as in the following example extract:

COPY BBOARD_EPA_REGIONS FROM stdin USING DELIMITERS '|';
Alabama|01|4|AL|Southeast Region
Alaska|02|10|AK|Northwestern Region
American Samoa|60|9|AS|Western Region
... etc

The script hangs waiting for input from stdin, instead of reading the data
from the file itself.

2) Later in the installation process, a sql script is required to be run:

psql -f load-data-model.sql [your database name]

This file contains a number of \i directives, those with comments on the same
line as the filename to be included... eg:

\i general-permissions.sql      -- much bigger for ACS 3.2.0

... fail with an error similar to (don't have exact wording to hand):

'failed to find "general-permissions.sql      -- much bigger for ACS 3.2.0"'

... ie it appears that the psql parser is reading the entire line after \i as
the required filename, and doesn't spot the -- comment delimiter.




Please describe a way to repeat the problem.   Please try to provide a
concise reproducible example, if at all possible:
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Repeatable on this platform using the shell script and command line detailed
above, in an OpenACS installation.



If you know how this problem might be fixed, list the solution below:
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Separating the .ctl files into 2 components such that the data is placed in a
separate file, and the ctl file adjusted accordingly... eg:

COPY BBOARD_EPA_REGIONS FROM '/tmp/dat/bboard_epa_regions.dat' USING
DELIMITERS '|';

fixes problem 1) to the extent that the shell script completes successfully.

Deleting the appended comments from the \i lines in the sql script fixes
problem 2) eg:

\i general-permissions.sql

I am advised by OpenACS project that these issues appear to be
architecture-specific, and they asked I report the problems here.

S.