<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><title>2.1. Introduction</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /><link rev="made" href="pgsql-docs@lists.postgresql.org" /><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets Vsnapshot" /><link rel="prev" href="tutorial-sql.html" title="Chapter 2. The SQL Language" /><link rel="next" href="tutorial-concepts.html" title="2.2. Concepts" /></head><body><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/transitional" class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="5" align="center">2.1. Introduction</th></tr><tr><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="tutorial-sql.html" title="Chapter 2. The SQL Language">Prev</a> </td><td width="10%" align="left"><a accesskey="u" href="tutorial-sql.html" title="Chapter 2. The SQL Language">Up</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter 2. The <acronym xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="acronym">SQL</acronym> Language</th><td width="10%" align="right"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html" title="PostgreSQL 11.5 Documentation">Home</a></td><td width="10%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="tutorial-concepts.html" title="2.2. Concepts">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></hr></div><div class="sect1" id="TUTORIAL-SQL-INTRO"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both">2.1. Introduction</h2></div></div></div><p>
This chapter provides an overview of how to use
<acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym> to perform simple operations. This
tutorial is only intended to give you an introduction and is in no
way a complete tutorial on <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym>. Numerous books
have been written on <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym>, including <a class="xref" href="biblio.html#MELT93" title="Understanding the New SQL">[melt93]</a> and <a class="xref" href="biblio.html#DATE97" title="A Guide to the SQL Standard">[date97]</a>.
You should be aware that some <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span>
language features are extensions to the standard.
</p><p>
In the examples that follow, we assume that you have created a
database named <code class="literal">mydb</code>, as described in the previous
chapter, and have been able to start <span class="application">psql</span>.
</p><p>
Examples in this manual can also be found in the
<span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> source distribution
in the directory <code class="filename">src/tutorial/</code>. (Binary
distributions of <span class="productname">PostgreSQL</span> might not
compile these files.) To use those
files, first change to that directory and run <span class="application">make</span>:
</p><pre class="screen">
<code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>cd <em class="replaceable"><code>....</code></em>/src/tutorial</code></strong>
<code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>make</code></strong>
</pre><p>
This creates the scripts and compiles the C files containing user-defined
functions and types. Then, to start the tutorial, do the following:
</p><pre class="screen">
<code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>cd <em class="replaceable"><code>....</code></em>/tutorial</code></strong>
<code class="prompt">$</code> <strong class="userinput"><code>psql -s mydb</code></strong>
<code class="computeroutput">
...
</code>
<code class="prompt">mydb=></code> <strong class="userinput"><code>\i basics.sql</code></strong>
</pre><p>
The <code class="literal">\i</code> command reads in commands from the
specified file. <code class="command">psql</code>'s <code class="literal">-s</code> 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
<code class="filename">basics.sql</code>.
</p></div><div class="navfooter"><hr /><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="tutorial-sql.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="tutorial-sql.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="tutorial-concepts.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Chapter 2. The <acronym class="acronym">SQL</acronym> Language </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> 2.2. Concepts</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
