You can separate statements into separate lines, for readability, as long as you declare the end with a semicolon.
Capitalizing commands is optional, but highly recommended for readability.
Need help, or more explanations? Try the tutorials at or .
PSQL Commands
\list - list all available databases
\dt - list all tables in the current database
\d+ tablename - look at a table's structure
\connect testdb - connect to database (specify name)
\c testdb - connect to database (shorthand)
\conninfo - check connection info
\? - all psql commands
\help - all PostgreSQL commands
\q - quit
SQL Commands
Create a database
CREATE DATABASE databasename;
Create a table
CREATE TABLE tablename (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
column1 INTEGER REFERENCES table2 (table2_id),
column2 VARCHAR(15),
column3 TEXT,
column4 DATE NOT NULL
);
INSERT data into a table
INSERT INTO tablename (column1, column2, column3, column4)
VALUES (30, 'A test', 'A lot more text than varchar', '2015-07-15');
SELECT data from a table
Select all columns (with wildcard)
SELECT * FROM tablename;
SELECT specific columns
SELECT column1 FROM tablename;
SELECT column1, column2 FROM tablename;
Select distinct values from a column
SELECT DISTINCT column1 FROM tablename;
Selecting using WHERE
SELECT using a WHERE clause
SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column1 = 30;
NOT EQUAL
SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column1 <> 1;
LIKE (usually uses a wildcard, '%')
SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column2 LIKE '%test%';
ILIKE (case insensitive)
SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column2 ILIKE '%test%';
ORDER BY
SELECT * FROM tablename
ORDER BY name DESC;
SELECT * FROM tablename
ORDER BY name ASC;
AND/OR
SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column1 = 30 AND column2 = 'test' OR column3 = 'woah';
IN/NOT IN
SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column1 IN (30, 40) AND column2 NOT IN ('taco', 'burrito');
LIMIT (returns the first rows)
Example: Limit the query results by returning the first 3 results.
SELECT * FROM tablename LIMIT 3;
LIMIT + OFFSET
Example: Return results 4-6
SELECT * FROM tablename
LIMIT 3 OFFSET 3;
Select an aggregate
COUNT
SELECT count(*) from tablename;
MAX/MIN values
SELECT max(*) from tablename;
SELECT min(*) from tablename;
UPDATE data in a table
UPDATE tablename SET column1 = 40
WHERE column2 = 'A test';
ALTER table columns and constraints
ALTER TABLE table1 ADD CONSTRAINT table1_id
FOREIGN KEY (table1_id) REFERENCES table2 (table2_id)
ON DELETE NO ACTION;
ALTER TABLE books ADD COLUMN year_released INTEGER;
ALTER TABLE books ALTER COLUMN name SET NOT NULL;
--
DELETE data from a table
DELETE from tablename
WHERE column1 = 40;
DROP a table
DROP TABLE tablename;
JOINing Tables
It's good to know the differences between JOINs, but you'll usually use plain JOIN, which performs an INNER JOIN by default.
SELECT * FROM person
JOIN librarycard
ON person.id = librarycard.person_id;
