"Lee Wu" <Lwu(at)mxlogic(dot)com> writes:
> When I use pg_dump to back up the whole database and then pg_restore an
> individual table,
> pg_restore uses COPY. Great.
> When I use pg_dump to back up an individual table and pg_restore it,
> pg_restore uses INSERT.
Not for me...
That decision is fixed at pg_dump time; it's not possible for pg_restore
to change it, because the data is already that way (or not) in the dump
file. Maybe you misinterpreted what you saw?
regards, tom lane