Rich Shepard <rshepard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > When I open the database > with 'psql contacts' and ask to have the tables dumped (with \d), they go > streaming by on the display. Of course, the bash 'tee' or 'less' commands > don't work to allow me to capture the stream to a file or page through the > output. Not sure why you say "of course" there. \d output is properly paginated for me, and I believe for most people. What platform are you on, and what do you have environment variable PAGER set to? Is the output of plain old SELECT commands paginated for you? > I've looked in the 8.1 pdf manual and the Douglas*2 book without spotting > the command I need to get a list of all tables and their fields. There is not a single command; you use queries against the system catalogs for purposes like this. The "system catalogs" chapter of the manual gives the details, but you can get a leg up by looking at the queries psql uses for whatever form of \d seems closest to what you want. Start psql with -E option to make it echo the queries it's using. regards, tom lane
