Thank you very much. I`ve also worked out how to do this simply from bash ./bin/psql mypdb <<EOF insert into pdb values ('`cat /file/name`'); EOF SDA On Sat, 2009-06-06 at 16:32 +0100, Raymond O'Donnell wrote: > On 06/06/2009 14:37, DimitryASuplatov wrote: > > But then comes the problem because the only command I found to read in > > the file content is COPY but the following command would not work > > Yes, this wont work here - COPY is intended for reading an entire table > to or from a disk file, not a single column. It's used for bulk > loading/exporting of data - pg_dump uses it, for example, when backing > up a database. > > BTW, "index" is a reserved word, so you shouldn't use it as a column > name. If you *really* have to use it, you'll need to double-quote it > every time, which is a PITA. > > > mypdb=# copy pdb (filecontent) from > > '/home/sda/Documents/Work/PVA_India/PGA_test_modeling/pdb/1gm9.pdb' > > where index=1; > > ERROR: syntax error at or near "where" > > LINE 1: ...ts/Work/PVA_India/PGA_test_modeling/pdb/1gm9.pdb' where > > inde... > > > > > > QUESTION: what is the command to read the content of a plain text file > > into a SPECIFIED table entry? > > I don't think you can, directly in the database. Instead, write a short > script which reads the file contents into a string and then issues an > SQL query to INSERT a new row or UPDATE an existing one. In PHP, for > example (untested): > > // Get the file contents. > $filename = 'my_file'; > $h = fopen($filename, 'r'); > $lines = fread($h, filesize($filename)); > fclose($h); > > // Write the contents to the database. > $sql = 'insert into pdb("index", filename, filecontents) values ($1, $2, > $3)'; > $conn = pg_connect([..your connection string..]); > pg_query_params($sql, array(1, $filename, $lines)); > > HTH, > > Ray. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > Raymond O'Donnell, Director of Music, Galway Cathedral, Ireland > rod@xxxxxx > Galway Cathedral Recitals: http://www.galwaycathedral.org/recitals > ------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general