[PATCH] psql: Display SQLSTATE macro name in verbose error reports
Aaryan Parik <aaryanparik124@gmail.com>
From: Aaryan Parik <aaryanparik124@gmail.com>
To: pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org
Date: 2026-05-23T19:18:22Z
Lists: pgsql-hackers
Attachments
- psql-sqlstate-macro-name.patch (application/octet-stream) patch
Hi hackers,
Currently, when psql displays verbose error messages (\set VERBOSITY
verbose or \errverbose), it prints the 5-character SQLSTATE code. However,
developers often have to manually look up the corresponding C macro name
(e.g. ERRCODE_SYNTAX_ERROR) in the source code when writing C extensions or
dealing with internal backend code.
Attached is a small patch that improves the verbose error output in psql by
appending the symbolic SQLSTATE macro name to the end of the error report.
*Changes included in this patch:*
*1. Created a small Perl script in src/bin/psql to parse
src/backend/utils/errcodes.txt and generate a C header (sqlstate_names.h)
containing a mapping of SQLSTATE codes to their macro names.2. Hooked the
generation of this header into the psql Makefile and meson.build.3. Updated
psql's error reporting (ExecQueryAndProcessResults and
exec_command_errverbose) to perform a lookup and append the macro name if
VERBOSITY is verbose.*
Example output:
ERROR: 42601: syntax error at or near "FRO"
LINE 1: SELECT * FRO;
^
LOCATION: scanner_yyerror, scan.l:1220
SQLSTATE name: ERRCODE_SYNTAX_ERROR
I believe this will be a handy quality-of-life improvement for developers.
Looking forward to any feedback
Best regards,
Aaryan Parik