PG_DUMP(UNIX)

NAME
pg_dump — dumps out a Postgres database into a script file

SYNOPSIS
pg_dump [-f filename ] [-H hostname ] [-p port] [-v ] [-d[a] ] [-S help] [-a ] [-t table] [-o ] dbname

DESCRIPTION
pg_dump is a utility for dumping out a Postgres database into a script file containing query commands. The script files are in a ASCII format and can be used to reconstruct the database, even on other machines and other architectures. pg_dump will produce the queries necessary to re-generate all user-defined types, functions, tables, indices, aggregates, and operators. In addition, all the data is copied out in ASCII format so that it can be readily copied in again, as well, as imported into tools for textual editing.

pg_dump is useful for dumping out the contents of a database to move from one postgres95 installation to another. After running pg_dump , one should examine the output script file for any warnings, especially in light of the limitations listed below.

CAVEATS AND LIMITATIONS
pg_dump has a few limitations. The limitations mostly stem from difficulty in extracting certain meta-information from the system catalogs.

rules and views
    pg_dump does not understand user-defined rules and views and will fail to dump them properly. (This is due to the fact that rules are stored as plans in the catalogs and not textually)

partial indices
    pg_dump does not understand partial indices. (The reason is the same as above. Partial index predicates are stored as plans)

large objects
    pg_dump does not handle large objects. Large objects are ignored and must be dealt with manually.

oid preservation
    pg_dump does not preserve oid's while dumping. If you have stored oid's explicitly in tables in user-defined attributes, and are using them as keys, then the output scripts will not regenerate your database correctly.

SEE ALSO
copy(l)