This chapter provides an overview of how to use
SQL to perform simple operations. This
tutorial is only intended to give you an introduction and is in no
way a complete tutorial on SQL. Numerous books
have been written on SQL, including Understanding the New SQL and A Guide to the SQL Standard.
You should be aware that some PostgreSQL
language features are extensions to the standard.
In the examples that follow, we assume that you have created a
database named mydb, as described in the previous
chapter, and have started psql.
Examples in this manual can also be found in the
PostgreSQL source distribution
in the directory src/tutorial/. Refer to the
README file in that directory for how to use
them. To start the tutorial, do the following:
$ cd ..../src/tutorial
$ psql -s mydb
...
mydb=> \i basics.sql
The \i command reads in commands from the
specified file. The -s option puts you in
single step mode which pauses before sending each statement to the
server. The commands used in this section are in the file
basics.sql.
