MySQL-ism help patch for psql
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From: Baron Schwartz on 25 Jan 2010 13:05 Hi Robert, On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Maybe instead of (or in addition to) providing MySQL-specific help, we > should find a way to emphasize the "\d" and "\d table" commands, Right, it's like "cd" and "ls" at the shell prompt. It's like walking into a dark room and not knowing where the light switch is. I'll think of more metaphors later. What if the text you see upon starting psql says something like "Type \dt to ... type \h for more help" ? -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers(a)postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
From: Robert Haas on 25 Jan 2010 13:19 On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 1:05 PM, Baron Schwartz <baron(a)xaprb.com> wrote: > Hi Robert, > > On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Robert Haas <robertmhaas(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> Maybe instead of (or in addition to) providing MySQL-specific help, we >> should find a way to emphasize the "\d" and "\d table" commands, > > Right, it's like "cd" and "ls" at the shell prompt. It's like walking > into a dark room and not knowing where the light switch is. I'll > think of more metaphors later. > > What if the text you see upon starting psql says something like "Type > \dt to ... type \h for more help" ? Well, we used to display this banner when psql started up: Welcome to psql 8.3.8, the PostgreSQL interactive terminal. Type: \copyright for distribution terms \h for help with SQL commands \? for help with psql commands \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query \q to quit But it got changed, so now it just tells you to type help and if you do then you get that banner. But maybe that's OK. Since the banner isn't being printed on every startup, it might be OK for it to be a bit longer, like, I dunno: Type: \copyright for distribution terms \h for help with SQL commands \d for a list of tables, views, and sequences in the current database \d name for more details on the named table, view, index, or sequence \? for further help with psql commands \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query \q to quit That might be just enough of a push to get people pointed in the right direction. ....Robert -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers(a)postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
From: Josh Berkus on 25 Jan 2010 13:47 >> My problem with this whole idea is that it seems to be very MySQL-specific. >> Why aren't we providing help for users migrating from Oracle, Sybase, >> Informix, Ingres, DB2, SQLServer and Firebird, to name but a few? And if we >> turn all those on by default, we'll have a pretty horrible banner when >> starting psql. We should do all of those. However, we have to start somewhere. Therefore, I like the idea of having a switch, like: \advice mysql \advice db2 etc. ALSO, I'll point out that a page in our official documentation with extensive docs on commands and migration issues would be far more helpful than any amount of psql messages. Just sayin'. --Josh Berkus -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers(a)postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
From: Baron Schwartz on 26 Jan 2010 21:21 Josh, On Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 1:47 PM, Josh Berkus <josh(a)agliodbs.com> wrote: > >>> My problem with this whole idea is that it seems to be very MySQL-specific. >>> Why aren't we providing help for users migrating from Oracle, Sybase, >>> Informix, Ingres, DB2, SQLServer and Firebird, to name but a few? And if we >>> turn all those on by default, we'll have a pretty horrible banner when >>> starting psql. > > We should do all of those. However, we have to start somewhere. > > Therefore, I like the idea of having a switch, like: > \advice mysql > \advice db2 > etc. > > ALSO, I'll point out that a page in our official documentation with > extensive docs on commands and migration issues would be far more > helpful than any amount of psql messages. Just sayin'. Hypothetically, if I had time to help with something like that, is there a wiki or something where I could help draft it, without needing to get all elbows-deep into the documentation itself? Baron -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers(a)postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
From: Josh Berkus on 26 Jan 2010 21:33
Baron, > Hypothetically, if I had time to help with something like that, is > there a wiki or something where I could help draft it, without needing > to get all elbows-deep into the documentation itself? wiki.postgresql.org. --Josh -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers(a)postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers |