2.1. Introduction

2.1. Introduction
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+ 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 [melt93] and [date97]. + 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 been able to start psql. +

+ Examples in this manual can also be found in the + PostgreSQL source distribution + in the directory src/tutorial/. (Binary + distributions of PostgreSQL might not + provide those files.) To use those + files, first change to that directory and run make: + +

+$ cd .../src/tutorial
+$ make
+

+ + This creates the scripts and compiles the C files containing user-defined + functions and types. Then, to start the tutorial, do the following: + +

+$ psql -s mydb
+
+...
+
+mydb=> \i basics.sql
+

+ + The \i command reads in commands from the + specified file. psql's -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. +