From 3e92c4ef2502e2664478423f2bcd1fbf59b8e7fd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Peter Eisentraut <peter@eisentraut.org>
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2025 09:39:17 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Improve pg_dump/pg_dumpall help synopses and terminology

Increase consistency of --help and man page synopses between pg_dump
and pg_dumpall.  These should now be very similar, as pg_dumpall can
now also produce non-text dump output.  But actually, they have
drifted further apart.

- Use verb "export" consistently, instead of "dump" or "extract".
- Use "SQL script" instead of just "script" or "text file".
- Maintain consistent distinction between SQL script and other
  formats/archives (which is relevant for pg_restore).

Discussion: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/flat/3f71d8a7-095b-4829-9b0b-fce09e9866b3%40eisentraut.org
---
 doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dump.sgml    | 2 +-
 doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dumpall.sgml | 7 +++++--
 doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_restore.sgml | 4 ++--
 src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.c        | 2 +-
 src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall.c     | 2 +-
 5 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dump.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dump.sgml
index d7595a7e546..c95e3449367 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dump.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dump.sgml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
   <refname>pg_dump</refname>
 
   <refpurpose>
-   extract a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database into a script file or other archive file
+   export a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database as an SQL script or to other formats
   </refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
 
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dumpall.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dumpall.sgml
index 723a466cfaa..7281301c808 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dumpall.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_dumpall.sgml
@@ -16,7 +16,10 @@
 
  <refnamediv>
   <refname>pg_dumpall</refname>
-  <refpurpose>extract a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database cluster using a specified dump format</refpurpose>
+
+  <refpurpose>
+   export a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database cluster as an SQL script or to other formats
+  </refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
 
  <refsynopsisdiv>
@@ -33,7 +36,7 @@ <title>Description</title>
   <para>
    <application>pg_dumpall</application> is a utility for writing out
    (<quote>dumping</quote>) all <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> databases
-   of a cluster into an archive.  The archive contains
+   of a cluster into an SQL script file or an archive.  The output contains
    <acronym>SQL</acronym> commands that can be used as input to <xref
    linkend="app-psql"/> to restore the databases.  It does this by
    calling <xref linkend="app-pgdump"/> for each database in the cluster.
diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_restore.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_restore.sgml
index 8c88b07dcc8..b649bd3a5ae 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_restore.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/pg_restore.sgml
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
   <refname>pg_restore</refname>
 
   <refpurpose>
-   restore a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> database or cluster
-   from an archive created by <application>pg_dump</application> or
+   restore <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> databases from archives
+   created by <application>pg_dump</application> or
    <application>pg_dumpall</application>
   </refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.c b/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.c
index 7bc0724cd30..11be05eab1c 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dump.c
@@ -1235,7 +1235,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 static void
 help(const char *progname)
 {
-	printf(_("%s dumps a database as a text file or to other formats.\n\n"), progname);
+	printf(_("%s exports a PostgreSQL database as an SQL script or to other formats.\n\n"), progname);
 	printf(_("Usage:\n"));
 	printf(_("  %s [OPTION]... [DBNAME]\n"), progname);
 
diff --git a/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall.c b/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall.c
index b1f388cb391..3cbcad65c5f 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_dump/pg_dumpall.c
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 static void
 help(void)
 {
-	printf(_("%s extracts a PostgreSQL database cluster based on specified dump format.\n\n"), progname);
+	printf(_("%s exports a PostgreSQL database cluster as an SQL script or to other formats.\n\n"), progname);
 	printf(_("Usage:\n"));
 	printf(_("  %s [OPTION]...\n"), progname);
 
-- 
2.49.0