Re: csv format for psql

Isaac Morland wrote:

> OK, mostly trying to avoid commenting because I doubt I have much to add.
> But. If I ask for CSV and don't specify any overrides, I expect to get
> "C"omma separated values, not some other character. More specifically, if I
> say --csv I expect to get files that are identical with what I would get if
> I used COPY ... CSV. Actually, COPY ... CSV HEADER, given that psql shows
> column headings. This also implies that I expect the quoting and related
> details that are associated with CSV.

Yes, this is what the current patch does. Only the first version
used the same default delimiter as the unaligned mode, but
nobody liked that part.
As for the header, it's driven by how it's already done for other
formats in psql, with the tuples_only setting, which implies
that column names are output by default as you mention.
Both settings must be changeable, the exact details of how/when
is what's being discussed.

The output might still differ compared to COPY in that line endings
depend on the client-side OS. There's also the minor issue
of a single \ by itself on a line, which gets quoted by COPY
and not by psql.

Best regards,
--
Daniel Vérité
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