Re: [HACKERS] backslash in psql output

Bruce Momjian <maillist(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us> writes:
> If the user is reading psql output into a program, it is very unclear
> how to determine a valid column delimiter vs. a delimiter in the data.

Quite true, but the PQprint output format has never been
program-friendly, as I pointed out previously.

I think the appropriate response to this gripe is to add another
command-line switch to psql, which would change its display of SELECT
data to something more suitable for program consumption, rather than
trying to make a single output format that's a bad compromise between
human readability and machine readability.

Perhaps the COPY data syntax would work for a program-friendly output
format? (Basically tabs and newlines are field and row delimiters,
with (IIRC) backslash-escaping of tabs, newlines, backslash itself,
and maybe nulls and suchlike. Also \N stands for a null field.)

> And what about the COPY command. Do you want to change the display of
> escape characters there too? I hope not.

I wasn't proposing any such thing, unless it proves necessary to ensure
we can copy arbitrary-8-bit text data out and back in. But that's a
task for a future release.

regards, tom lane