I'm using psql in the command line on a Mac. Usually, when I type a command, the opening line reads database_name=#. I terminate the command with a ; and that works nicely.
Sometimes when I write a command (which has been copied and pasted from a textbook I'm working through) I end up with the opening line being one of the following:
postgis_in_action(#
postgis_in_action'#
What do the ( and ' mean please? And how do I escape them to get back to 'normal'?
It means you missing the closing braces or the apostrophe mark.
Normal one :
postgres=# select pg_size_pretty(pg_relation_size('test'));
pg_size_pretty
----------------
8192 bytes
(1 row)
Missed braces/apostrophe:
postgres=# select pg_size_pretty(pg_relation_size('test')
postgres(# );
pg_size_pretty
----------------
8192 bytes
(1 row)
postgres=# select count(*) from test where name = 'vignesh
postgres'# ';
count
-------
10
(1 row)
Valid query with no semi-colon will have hyphen:
postgres=# select count(*) from test where name = 'vignesh'
postgres-# ;
count
-------
100
(1 row)
Just cancel that query by Ctrl + C. Since that query is cancelled and not ran, pressing up arrow will not bring that up, as it will not be available in the history.