I have a very confusing isse. I am trying to backup and restre a signle table . first I dump the table. Script started on 2019-10-24 06:29:12-0400 ]0;stan@smokey: ~stan@smokey:~$ pg_dump -a --table task_instance > task_instance.dump Then I connect to the db, and verify that things are as expected. ]0;stan@smokey: ~stan@smokey:~$ psql psql (11.5 (Ubuntu 11.5-3.pgdg18.04+1)) Type "help" for help. [1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> \dt List of relations Schema | Name | Type | Owner --------+--------------------------+-------+------- public | biz_constants | table | stan public | bom_item | table | stan public | costing_unit | table | stan public | customer | table | stan public | earthquake | table | stan public | employee | table | stan public | expense_report_instance | table | stan public | gl_code | table | stan public | mfg | table | stan public | mfg_part | table | stan public | mfg_vendor_relationship | table | stan public | permitted_work | table | stan public | phone_number_test | table | stan public | project | table | stan public | project_budget_component | table | stan public | project_cost_category | table | stan public | rate | table | stan public | salary | table | stan public | task_instance | table | stan public | vendor | table | stan public | work_type | table | stan (21 rows) [1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> \d task_instance [?1049h[22;0;0t[?1h= Table "public.task_instance" Column | Type | Collation | Nullable | Default ---------------+--------------------------+-----------+----------+-------------- --------------------------------- task_instance | integer | | not null | nextval('task _instance_key_serial'::regclass) project_key | integer | | not null | employee_key | integer | | not null | work_type_key | integer | | not null | hours | numeric(5,2) | | not null | work_start | timestamp with time zone | | not null | work_end | timestamp with time zone | | not null | modtime | timestamp with time zone | | not null | CURRENT_TIMES TAMP lock | boolean | | | true descrip | character varying | | | Indexes: "task_instance_pkey" PRIMARY KEY, btree (task_instance) "task_constraint" UNIQUE CONSTRAINT, btree (employee_key, work_type_key, pro ject_key, work_start, work_end) Foreign-key constraints: "task_instance_employee_key_fkey" FOREIGN KEY (employee_key) REFERENCES empl :[K[K[?1l>[?1049l[23;0;0t[1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> \d permitted_work [?1049h[22;0;0t[?1h= Table "public.permitted_work" Column | Type | Collation | Nullable | Default ---------------+--------------------------+-----------+----------+-------------- ----- employee_key | integer | | not null | work_type_key | integer | | not null | permit | boolean | | not null | false modtime | timestamp with time zone | | not null | CURRENT_TIMES TAMP Indexes: "permit_constraint" UNIQUE CONSTRAINT, btree (employee_key, work_type_key) Foreign-key constraints: "permitted_work_employee_key_fkey" FOREIGN KEY (employee_key) REFERENCES emp loyee(employee_key) ON DELETE RESTRICT "permitted_work_work_type_key_fkey" FOREIGN KEY (work_type_key) REFERENCES w ork_type(work_type_key) ON DELETE RESTRICT Then I delete the rows from the table. [7m(END)[27m[K[K[?1l>[?1049l[23;0;0t[1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> delete from task_instance ; DELETE 31 Then I try to restore from the dump file. [1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> \i task_instance.dump SET SET SET SET SET set_config ------------ (1 row) SET SET SET SET psql:task_instance.dump:55: ERROR: relation "permitted_work" does not exist LINE 3: permitted_work ^ QUERY: SELECT permit FROM permitted_work WHERE NEW.employee_key = permitted_work.employee_key AND NEW.work_type_key = permitted_work.work_type_key CONTEXT: PL/pgSQL function public.check_permission() line 4 at SQL statement COPY task_instance, line 1: "1 1 1 8 17.50 2019-02-01 00:00:00-05 2019-02-08 00:00:00-05 2019-10-24 06:28:44.502699-04 t Drawings..." After that error, U cannot see any objects in the table [1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> \dt Did not find any relations. [1m[local] stan@stan=[0m> \q ]0;stan@smokey: ~stan@smokey:~$ exit Script done on 2019-10-24 06:30:48-0400 quiting psql and reconecting shows that the obkects ARE there, with the taks)instance table empty. What am I doing wrong? -- "They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin