Horton

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  1. Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Joe Van Dyk <joe@tanga.com> — 2013-08-12T21:15:25Z

    Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated
output. I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs
instead.

Joe

  2. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> — 2013-08-12T21:21:32Z

    On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated output.
> I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.

[ "this" means the fact that COPY doesn't support the HEADER option. ]

We assume CSV is going to be read into a tool that can use the header
names;  delimited files don't usually have a use for those headers.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

  + It's impossible for everything to be true. +

  3. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Merlin Moncure <mmoncure@gmail.com> — 2013-08-12T22:05:42Z

    On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 4:21 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
>> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated output.
>> I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.
>
> [ "this" means the fact that COPY doesn't support the HEADER option. ]
>
> We assume CSV is going to be read into a tool that can use the header
> names;  delimited files don't usually have a use for those headers.

that's a terrible assumption.

merlin

  4. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Jeff Janes <jeff.janes@gmail.com> — 2013-08-12T22:17:00Z

    On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 2:21 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
>> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated output.
>> I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.
>
> [ "this" means the fact that COPY doesn't support the HEADER option. ]
>
> We assume CSV is going to be read into a tool that can use the header
> names;  delimited files don't usually have a use for those headers.

There have been a few cases where I wanted this, too.  I can see why
implementing it is less important than having it for CSV, but is there
a reason to consider this harmful for TEXT format?  I.e. if someone
submitted a patch, would it be rejected?

Cheers,

Jeff

  5. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> — 2013-08-12T22:18:16Z

    On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 03:17:00PM -0700, Jeff Janes wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 2:21 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
> > On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
> >> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated output.
> >> I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.
> >
> > [ "this" means the fact that COPY doesn't support the HEADER option. ]
> >
> > We assume CSV is going to be read into a tool that can use the header
> > names;  delimited files don't usually have a use for those headers.
> 
> There have been a few cases where I wanted this, too.  I can see why
> implementing it is less important than having it for CSV, but is there
> a reason to consider this harmful for TEXT format?  I.e. if someone
> submitted a patch, would it be rejected?

I see no reason _not_ to support it, so sure, either we add this to 9.4,
or add it to the TODO list.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

  + It's impossible for everything to be true. +

  6. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Adrian Klaver <adrian.klaver@gmail.com> — 2013-08-12T22:22:58Z

    On 08/12/2013 02:15 PM, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated
> output. I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs
> instead.

I am not sure I understand. Do you mean you are converting the file to 
comma separated or that you are using CSV and having to specify the 
delimiter as '\t'?
>
> Joe


-- 
Adrian Klaver
adrian.klaver@gmail.com

  7. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Richard Huxton <dev@archonet.com> — 2013-08-15T08:25:07Z

    On 12/08/13 23:18, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 03:17:00PM -0700, Jeff Janes wrote:
>> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 2:21 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
>>> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
>>>> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated output.
>>>> I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.

Late to the discussion, but it does work to set format=csv and delimiter 
= E'\t' to get tab-separated. Be nice not to have to though.

-- 
   Richard Huxton
   Archonet Ltd

  8. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> — 2013-08-15T12:20:05Z

    On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 09:25:07AM +0100, Richard Huxton wrote:
> On 12/08/13 23:18, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> >On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 03:17:00PM -0700, Jeff Janes wrote:
> >>On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 2:21 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
> >>>On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
> >>>>Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated output.
> >>>>I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.
> 
> Late to the discussion, but it does work to set format=csv and
> delimiter = E'\t' to get tab-separated. Be nice not to have to
> though.

I assume that is going to add quotes to a field that contains quotes:

	CREATE TABLE test(x TEXT);
	INSERT INTO test VALUES ('"a"');

	COPY test TO STDOUT WITH (FORMAT CSV, DELIMITER E'\t');
	"""a"""

I have added this to the TODO list:

	Allow COPY "text" format to output a header

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com

  + It's impossible for everything to be true. +

  9. Re: Why doesn't COPY support the HEADER options for tab-separated output?

    Jeff Janes <jeff.janes@gmail.com> — 2013-08-15T15:59:23Z

    On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 1:25 AM, Richard Huxton <dev@archonet.com> wrote:
> On 12/08/13 23:18, Bruce Momjian wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 03:17:00PM -0700, Jeff Janes wrote:
>>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 2:21 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 02:15:25PM -0700, Joe Van Dyk wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Mostly just curious, as this is preventing me from using tab-separated
>>>>> output.
>>>>> I'd like there to be a header in my files. I have to use CSVs instead.
>
>
> Late to the discussion, but it does work to set format=csv and delimiter =
> E'\t' to get tab-separated. Be nice not to have to though.

Also, the escaping/quoting mechanisms are different.  I often find the
escapes of the TEXT format more convenient than the CSV with E'\t'.

Cheers,

Jeff