Thread

1. [PATCH] psql: Display SQLSTATE macro name in verbose error reports

   Aaryan Parik <aaryanparik124@gmail.com> — 2026-05-23T19:18:22Z

   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
   

2. Re: [PATCH] psql: Display SQLSTATE macro name in verbose error reports

   jian he <jian.universality@gmail.com> — 2026-05-24T01:56:55Z

   On Sun, May 24, 2026 at 3:18 AM Aaryan Parik <aaryanparik124@gmail.com> wrote:
   >
   > 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
   >
   
   This seems identical to the patch submitted in the previous email thread, [0].
   
   [0]: https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/CAK3UJRGc2RKfQMjwVDAwsuOJuobq3d4%2BQf9KWK1NHmK1vaqyxQ%40mail.gmail.com
   
   
   
   

3. Re: [PATCH] psql: Display SQLSTATE macro name in verbose error reports

   Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us> — 2026-05-25T19:20:23Z

   jian he <jian.universality@gmail.com> writes:
   > On Sun, May 24, 2026 at 3:18 AM Aaryan Parik <aaryanparik124@gmail.com> wrote:
   >> 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
   
   > This seems identical to the patch submitted in the previous email thread, [0].
   
   It's not exactly the same: Josh's patch did the dirty work in libpq
   not psql.  So this has a somewhat smaller blast radius for client
   compatibility problems (but still not zero).  The other comments
   I posted in the other thread still apply though.
   
   			regards, tom lane