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>PostgreSQL 7.4.1 Documentation</TH
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><A
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></A
>Chapter 2. The <ACRONYM
CLASS="ACRONYM"
>SQL</ACRONYM
> Language</H1
><DIV
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><DL
><DT
><B
>Table of Contents</B
></DT
><DT
>2.1. <A
HREF="tutorial-sql.html#TUTORIAL-SQL-INTRO"
>Introduction</A
></DT
><DT
>2.2. <A
HREF="tutorial-concepts.html"
>Concepts</A
></DT
><DT
>2.3. <A
HREF="tutorial-table.html"
>Creating a New Table</A
></DT
><DT
>2.4. <A
HREF="tutorial-populate.html"
>Populating a Table With Rows</A
></DT
><DT
>2.5. <A
HREF="tutorial-select.html"
>Querying a Table</A
></DT
><DT
>2.6. <A
HREF="tutorial-join.html"
>Joins Between Tables</A
></DT
><DT
>2.7. <A
HREF="tutorial-agg.html"
>Aggregate Functions</A
></DT
><DT
>2.8. <A
HREF="tutorial-update.html"
>Updates</A
></DT
><DT
>2.9. <A
HREF="tutorial-delete.html"
>Deletions</A
></DT
></DL
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><DIV
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><H1
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="TUTORIAL-SQL-INTRO"
>2.1. Introduction</A
></H1
><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
HREF="biblio.html#MELT93"
><I
>Understanding the New <ACRONYM
CLASS="ACRONYM"
>SQL</ACRONYM
></I
></A
> and <A
HREF="biblio.html#DATE97"
><I
>A Guide to the <ACRONYM
CLASS="ACRONYM"
>SQL</ACRONYM
> Standard</I
></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 <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>mydb</TT
>, as described in the previous
chapter, and have started <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 <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>src/tutorial/</TT
>. Refer to the
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>README</TT
> file in that directory for how to use
them. To start the tutorial, do the following:
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
><SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>$</SAMP
> <KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>cd <VAR
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
>....</VAR
>/src/tutorial</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>$</SAMP
> <KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>psql -s mydb</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>...</SAMP
>
<SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>mydb=></SAMP
> <KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>\i basics.sql</KBD
></PRE
><P>
The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>\i</TT
> command reads in commands from the
specified file. The <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>-s</TT
> 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
<TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>basics.sql</TT
>.
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