1010alink ="#0000ff ">
1111< H1 > Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for PostgreSQL</ H1 >
1212
13- < P > Last updated:Fri Mar12 08:51 :11 EST 2004</ P >
13+ < P > Last updated:Mon Mar29 00:07 :11 EST 2004</ P >
1414
1515< P > Current maintainer: Bruce Momjian (< A href =
1616 "mailto:pgman@candle.pha.pa.us "> pgman@candle.pha.pa.us</ A > )< BR >
@@ -156,11 +156,14 @@ <H2 align="center">General Questions</H2>
156156
157157< H4 > < A name ="1.1 "> 1.1</ A > ) What is PostgreSQL? How is it pronounced?</ H4 >
158158
159- < P > PostgreSQL is pronounced< I > Post-Gres-Q-L</ I > . The name "Postgres" is
160- also used in conversation.</ P >
159+ < P > PostgreSQL is pronounced< I > Post-Gres-Q-L</ I > . An audio file is
160+ available at http://www.postgresql.org/postgresql.mp3 for those
161+ would like to hear the pronunciation.
162+ </ P >
161163
162164< P > PostgreSQL is an enhancement of the POSTGRES database management
163- system, a next-generation< SMALL > DBMS</ SMALL > research prototype.
165+ system (and is still sometimes reffered to as simply "Postgres"),
166+ a next-generation< SMALL > DBMS</ SMALL > research prototype.
164167 While PostgreSQL retains the powerful data model and rich data
165168 types of POSTGRES, it replaces the PostQuel query language with an
166169 extended subset of< SMALL > SQL</ SMALL > . PostgreSQL is free and the
@@ -173,7 +176,7 @@ <H4><A name="1.1">1.1</A>) What is PostgreSQL? How is it pronounced?</H4>
173176 section< a href ="#1.6 "> 1.6</ a > on how to join). This team is now
174177 responsible for all development of PostgreSQL. It is a community
175178 project and is not controlled by any company. To get involved, see
176- the developer's FAQ, < A href =
179+ the developer's FAQ at < A href =
177180 "http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html "> http://www.PostgreSQL.org/docs/faqs/FAQ_DEV.html</ A >
178181</ P >
179182
@@ -197,7 +200,7 @@ <H4><A name="1.2">1.2</A>) What is the copyright on
197200
198201< P > PostgreSQL Data Base Management System</ P >
199202
200- < P > Portions copyright (c) 1996-2002 , PostgreSQL Global Development
203+ < P > Portions copyright (c) 1996-2004 , PostgreSQL Global Development
201204 Group Portions Copyright (c) 1994-6 Regents of the University of
202205 California</ P >
203206
@@ -227,7 +230,7 @@ <H4><A name="1.2">1.2</A>) What is the copyright on
227230< H4 > < A name ="1.3 "> 1.3</ A > ) What Unix platforms does PostgreSQL run
228231 on?</ H4 >
229232
230- < P > In general,a modern Unix-compatible platform should be able to
233+ < P > In general,any modern Unix-compatible platform should be able to
231234 run PostgreSQL. The platforms that had received explicit testing at
232235 the time of release are listed in the installation
233236 instructions.</ P >
@@ -563,7 +566,7 @@ <H4><A name="2.3">2.3</A>) Does PostgreSQL have a graphical user
563566href ="http://sources.redhat.com/rhdb/ "> http://sources.redhat.com/rhdb/
564567</ a > ) and Rekall (< a href ="http://www.thekompany.com/products/rekall/ ">
565568 http://www.thekompany.com/products/rekall/</ a > , proprietary). There is
566- alsoPHPPgAdmin (< a href ="http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net/ ">
569+ alsoPhpPgAdmin (< a href ="http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net/ ">
567570 http://phppgadmin.sourceforge.net/</ a > ), a web-based interface to
568571 PostgreSQL.</ P >
569572
@@ -651,7 +654,7 @@ <H4><A name="3.5">3.5</A>) How do I control connections from other
651654
652655< P > By default, PostgreSQL only allows connections from the local
653656 machine using Unix domain sockets. Other machines will not be able
654- to connect unless youadd the < I > -i </ I > flag to < I > postmaster </ I > ,
657+ to connect unless youturn on tcpip_sockets in the postgresql.conf
655658< B > and</ B > enable host-based authentication by modifying the file
656659< I > $PGDATA/pg_hba.conf</ I > accordingly. This will allow TCP/IP
657660 connections.</ P >
@@ -660,7 +663,7 @@ <H4><A name="3.6">3.6</A>) How do I tune the database engine for
660663 better performance?</ H4 >
661664
662665< P > Certainly, indexes can speed up queries. The
663- < SMALL > EXPLAIN</ SMALL > command allows you to see how PostgreSQL is
666+ < SMALL > EXPLAIN ANALYZE </ SMALL > command allows you to see how PostgreSQL is
664667 interpreting your query, and which indexes are being used.</ P >
665668
666669< P > If you are doing many< SMALL > INSERTs</ SMALL > , consider doing
@@ -837,12 +840,15 @@ <H4><A name="4.2">4.2</A>) How do I <SMALL>SELECT</SMALL> only the
837840< H4 > < A name ="4.3 "> 4.3</ A > ) How do I get a list of tables or other
838841 things I can see in< I > psql</ I > ?</ H4 >
839842
840- < P > You can read the source code for< I > psql</ I > in file
841- < I > pgsql/src/bin/psql/describe.c</ I > . It contains
842- < SMALL > SQL</ SMALL > commands that generate the output for psql's
843- backslash commands. You can also start< I > psql</ I > with the
844- < I > -E</ I > option so it will print out the queries it uses to
845- execute the commands you give.</ P >
843+ < P > Use the \dt command to see tables in< I > psql</ I > . For a complete list of
844+ commands inside psql you can use \?. Alternatively you can read the source
845+ code for< I > psql</ I > in file< I > pgsql/src/bin/psql/describe.c</ I > , it
846+ contains< SMALL > SQL</ SMALL > commands that generate the output for
847+ < I > psql</ I > 's backslash commands. You can also start< I > psql</ I > with the
848+ < I > -E</ I > option so it will print out the queries it uses to execute the
849+ commands you give. PostgreSQL also provides an< SMALL > SQLi</ SMALL > compliant
850+ INFORMATION SCHEMA interface you can query to get information about the
851+ database.</ P >
846852
847853< H4 > < A name ="4.4 "> 4.4</ A > ) How do you remove a column from a
848854 table, or change its data type?</ H4 >