pg_dump -a

Is the -a option supposed to dump just data or is it supposed to include user defined types and (some) functions?

I am implementing contrib/ltree. I use a data only dump to reload data after re-creating tables from another script. When I do this:

createdb foobar
psql foobar < ltree.sql
pg_dump -a foobar > foobar.dump

the resulting file contains CREATE TYPE and CREATE FUNCTION statements that are necessary for the ltree implementation. My (minor) problem is that I don't need them in there and they create extraneous error messages.

Of course, I do actually need the type and supporting functions, but I need them earlier (when I create the tables). I went ahead and did

psql template1 < ltree.sql

I hope that was smart. It seems to work OK, creating the necessary bits in new databases.

Ian A. Harding
Programmer/Analyst II
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department
(253) 798-3549
iharding(at)tpchd(dot)org

"La Union es la Fuerza"