--- Darkcamel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello all, > > I am new to postgres and don't really understand > how the database is > set-up. I am very fluent with mysql and sql2000, > but postgres is new to > me. If anyone can point me to some good links I > would appreciate it very > much.
This is worth a book, and there are several written for that purpose. I will try a summary. First, you need a working PostgreSQL installation. If you do not have this now, I suggest looking for a package for your platform, rather than attempting to compile source yourself (unless you are feeling adventurous). Make sure you have some user(s) and database(s) set up to play with. Example (assuming that the database setup was initialized by user "postgres", which is usually the case): su postgres #you probably need to su to root first createuser myuser createdb mydb Next, look over the documentation (easiest just to go to http://www.postgresql.org for that). Don't spend too much time reading the content at first; instead, spend some time familiarizing yourself with the layout of the contents. Once you become a little familiar with the layout of the docs, you will find that you will be easily able in most cases to drill down and find answers to your questions. Then, just jump in and start playing. Connect to the server, and log into the database using "psql [databasename]". Psql is something like Oracle's sql*plus; "man psql" will tell you more. From the psql prompt, you can issue SQL commands. There are many psql-specific commands, which you can list by typing "\?" at the psql prompt. Some examples: \dt list all tables \d tablename List structure (fields, datatypes etc.) for "tablename". \h command Show syntax for SQL command "command" If you have been using another RDBMS, you can learn a lot by attempting to import a dump from that system into PostgreSQL. Depending on how many vendor-specific extensions are in use, you may find that you can do it with little (or possibly no) editing of the dump file. To import a dump file, just do (from the OS command line): psql databasename < dump.file This, plus a little research, should be enough to get you started. The docs are the definitive source for information. You will also find lots of useful stuff at http://techdocs.postgresql.org. If you have specific questions that you are having trouble finding answers to, post them to the list. Good luck. > > Thanks, > > Darkcamel > > ---------------------------(end of > broadcast)--------------------------- > TIP 4: Don't 'kill -9' the postmaster > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings