<!--
doc/src/sgml/ref/psql-ref.sgml
PostgreSQL documentation
-->

<refentry id="app-psql">
 <indexterm zone="app-psql">
  <primary>psql</primary>
 </indexterm>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle><application>psql</application></refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo>Application</refmiscinfo>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname><application>psql</application></refname>
    <refpurpose>
      <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> interactive terminal
    </refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
  <cmdsynopsis>
   <command>psql</command>
   <arg rep="repeat"><replaceable class="parameter">option</replaceable></arg>
   <arg choice="opt"><replaceable class="parameter">dbname</replaceable>
   <arg choice="opt"><replaceable class="parameter">username</replaceable></arg></arg>
  </cmdsynopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

    <para>
     <application>psql</application> is a terminal-based front-end to
     <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>. It enables you to type in
     queries interactively, issue them to
     <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, and see the query results.
     Alternatively, input can be from a file or from command line
     arguments. In addition, <application>psql</application> provides a
     number of meta-commands and various shell-like features to
     facilitate writing scripts and automating a wide variety of tasks.
    </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="r1-app-psql-3">
  <title>Options</title>

  <variablelist>
    <varlistentry id="app-psql-option-echo-all">
      <term><option>-a</option></term>
      <term><option>--echo-all</option></term>
      <listitem>
      <para>
      Print all nonempty input lines to standard output as they are read.
      (This does not apply to lines read interactively.) This is
      equivalent to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
      <literal>all</literal>.
      </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry id="app-psql-option-no-align">
      <term><option>-A</option></term>
      <term><option>--no-align</option></term>
      <listitem>
      <para>
      Switches to unaligned output mode. (The default output mode is
      <literal>aligned</literal>.)  This is equivalent to
      <command>\pset format unaligned</command>.
      </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry id="app-psql-option-echo-errors">
      <term><option>-b</option></term>
      <term><option>--echo-errors</option></term>
      <listitem>
      <para>
      Print failed SQL commands to standard error output. This is
      equivalent to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
      <literal>errors</literal>.
      </para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry id="app-psql-option-command">
      <term><option>-c <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></option></term>
      <term><option>--command=<replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable></option></term>
      <listitem>
      <para>
       Specifies that <application>psql</application> is to execute the given
       command string, <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable>.
       This option can be repeated and combined in any order with
       the <option>-f</option> option.  When either <option>-c</option>
       or <option>-f</option> is specified, <application>psql</application>
       does not read commands from standard input; instead it terminates
       after processing all the <option>-c</option> and <option>-f</option>
       options in sequence.
      </para>
      <para>
       <replaceable class="parameter">command</replaceable> must be either
       a command string that is completely parsable by the server (i.e.,
       it contains no <application>psql</application>-specific features),
       or a single backslash command. Thus you cannot mix
       <acronym>SQL</acronym> and <application>psql</application>
       meta-commands within a <option>-c</option>