@@ -90,6 +90,13 @@ COPY { <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable
9090 in the <structname>pg_stat_progress_copy</structname> view. See
9191 <xref linkend="copy-progress-reporting"/> for details.
9292 </para>
93+
94+ <para>
95+ By default, <command>COPY</command> will fail if it encounters an error
96+ during processing. For use cases where a best-effort attempt at loading
97+ the entire file is desired, the <literal>ON_ERROR</literal> clause can
98+ be used to specify some other behavior.
99+ </para>
93100 </refsect1>
94101
95102 <refsect1>
@@ -378,17 +385,20 @@ COPY { <replaceable class="parameter">table_name</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable
378385 <term><literal>ON_ERROR</literal></term>
379386 <listitem>
380387 <para>
381- Specifies which <replaceable class="parameter">
382- error_action</replaceable> to perform when there is malformed data in the input.
383- Currently, only <literal>stop</literal> (default) and <literal>ignore</literal>
384- values are supported.
385- If the <literal>stop</literal> value is specified,
386- <command>COPY</command> stops operation at the first error.
387- If the <literal>ignore</literal> value is specified,
388- <command>COPY</command> skips malformed data and continues copying data.
389- The option is allowed only in <command>COPY FROM</command>.
390- Only <literal>stop</literal> value is allowed when
391- using <literal>binary</literal> format.
388+ Specifies how to behave when encountering an error converting a column's
389+ input value into its data type.
390+ An <replaceable class="parameter">error_action</replaceable> value of
391+ <literal>stop</literal> means fail the command, while
392+ <literal>ignore</literal> means discard the input row and continue with the next one.
393+ The default is <literal>stop</literal>.
394+ </para>
395+ <para>
396+ The <literal>ignore</literal> option is applicable only for <command>COPY FROM</command>
397+ when the <literal>FORMAT</literal> is <literal>text</literal> or <literal>csv</literal>.
398+ </para>
399+ <para>
400+ A <literal>NOTICE</literal> message containing the ignored row count is emitted at the end
401+ of the <command>COPY FROM</command> if at least one row was discarded.
392402 </para>
393403 </listitem>
394404 </varlistentry>
@@ -576,15 +586,13 @@ COPY <replaceable class="parameter">count</replaceable>
576586 </para>
577587
578588 <para>
579- <command>COPY</command> stops operation at the first error when
580- <literal>ON_ERROR</literal> is not specified. This
581- should not lead to problems in the event of a <command>COPY
582- TO</command>, but the target table will already have received
583- earlier rows in a <command>COPY FROM</command>. These rows will not
584- be visible or accessible, but they still occupy disk space. This might
585- amount to a considerable amount of wasted disk space if the failure
586- happened well into a large copy operation. You might wish to invoke
587- <command>VACUUM</command> to recover the wasted space.
589+ The <command>COPY FROM</command> command physically inserts input rows
590+ into the table as it progresses. If the command fails, these rows are
591+ left in a deleted state; these rows will not be visible, but still
592+ occupy disk space. This might amount to considerable
593+ wasted disk space if the failure happened well into a large copy
594+ operation. <command>VACUUM</command> should be used to recover the
595+ wasted space.
588596 </para>
589597
590598 <para>