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Backup and Restore is probably the most important thing to know how to do when you have a database with data you care about.

The utilities in PostgreSQL that accomplish these tasks are pg_restore, pg_dump, pg_dumpall, and for restore of plain text dumps - psql.

A lot of the switches used by pg_dump, pg_restore, pg_dumpall are common to all three. You use pg_dump to do backups of a single database or select database objects and pg_restore to restore it either to another database or to recover portions of a database. You use pg_dumpall to dump all your databases in plain text format.

Rather than trying to keep track of which switch works with which, we decided to combine all into a single cheat sheet with a column denoting which utility the switch is supported in. Pretty much all the text is compiled from the --help switch of each.

We created a similar Backup and Restore cheatsheet for PostgreSQL 8.3 and since then some new features have been added such as the jobs parallel restore feature in 8.4. We have now created an updated sheet to comprise all features present in PostgreSQL 9.0 packaged pg_dump, pg_restore, pg_dumpall command line utilities.

PDF Portrait version 8.5 x 11" of this cheatsheet is available at PostgreSQL 9.0 Dump Restore 8.5 x 11 and also available in PDF A4 format and HTML.

As usual please let us know if you find any errors or omissions and we'll be happy to correct.

To celebrate the arrival of the long awaited PostgreSQL 9.0, we have prepared a multi-page PostgreSQL 9.0 cheat sheet that covers prior PostgreSQL constructs plus new 9.0 features. PDF version of this cheat sheet is available at PostgreSQL 9.0 Cheat sheet in PDF 8/12 by 11", PostgreSQL 9.0 Cheat sheet in PDF A4 and the PostgreSQL 9.0 Cheat sheet in HTML.

We took some advice from several readers and this time broke the cheatsheet into multiple pages. Hopefully you won't need magnifying glasses to read this one. We also switched to landscape and put all the examples at the end.

If you find any errors or anything major we left out, please let us know and we'll amend.

A while ago we wrote about DZone RefCards cheatsheets and how its a shame there isn't one for PostgreSQL. They are a very attractive and useful vehicle for learning and brushing up on the most important pieces of a piece of software or framework. Since that time we have been diligently working on one for PostgreSQL to fill the missing PostgreSQL slot. The fruits of our labor are finally out, and a bit quicker than we expected. The cheatsheet covers both old features and new features introduced in PostgreSQL 8.4. We hope its useful to many old and new PostgreSQL users.

The Essential PostgreSQL Refcard can be downloaded from Essential PostgreSQL http://refcardz.dzone.com/refcardz/essential-postgresql?oid=hom12841

PL/Python is the procedural language for PostgreSQL that allows you to write database stored functions and triggers in Python. Python has proved to be a charming language and when used for where it excels, enhances the power of PostgreSQL quite nicely. Unfortunately we can't quite capture all its charm in a single pager cheat sheet, but hopefully this will give you a sense of its usefulness.

Below is a Thumbnail view of the PL\Python cheat sheet. This is by no means comprehensive, but are the features we thought may be useful to know.

PDF Portrait version 8.5 x 11" of this cheatsheet is available at PL/Python Cheatsheet 8.5 x 11 and also available in PDF A4 format and HTML.

Also check out our accompanying tutorials on the topic of PL/Python:

1. Quick Intro to PLPython
2. PLPython Part 2: Control Flow and Returning Sets
3. PLPython Part 3: Using custom classes, pulling data from PostgreSQL
4. PLPython Part 4: PLPython meets aggregates

PSQL is the command line administration/query tool for PostgreSQL. It is simple, light-weight and packed with a lot of charm. Unfortunately we can't quite capture all its charm in a single pager cheat sheet, but hopefully this will give you a sense of its usefulness.

Below is a Thumbnail view of the PSQL cheat sheet. This is by no means comprehensive, but are the features we use most often. It is also pretty much what you get from the help screen with just some added color.

PDF Portrait version 8.5 x 11" of this cheatsheet is available at PSQL8.3 Cheatsheet 8.5 x 11 and also available in PDF A4 format and HTML.

Hubert has some neat tips for making more effective use of psql

• keyboard shortcuts in psql
• Suppressing CONTEXT lines in psql

To finish off our PL/PGSQL tutorial series, we are providing a PL/PGSQL cheat sheet.

Below is a Thumbnail view of the PostgreSQL 8.3 PL/PGSQL cheat sheet that covers both 8.3 new features and past core PL/PGSQL features. This is by no means comprehensive, but are the features we use most often.

PDF Portrait version 8.5 x 11" of this cheatsheet is available at PostgreSQL 8.3 PL/PGSQL Cheatsheet 8.5 x 11 and also available in PDF A4 format and HTML.

Backup and Restore is probably the most important thing to know how to do when you have a database with data you care about.

The utilities in PostgreSQL that accomplish these tasks are pg_restore, pg_dump, pg_dumpall, and for restore of plain text dumps - psql.

A lot of the switches used by pg_dump, pg_restore, pg_dumpall are common to all three and on rare cases, the switches used by each overlap but mean different things. pg_dump and pg_restore are complementary. You use pg_dump to do hot backups of a database and pg_restore to restore it either to another database or to recover portions of a database.

Rather than trying to keep track of which switch works with which, we decided to combine all into a single cheat sheet with a column denoting which utility the switch is supported in. Pretty much all the text is compiled from the --help switch of each.

Below is a Thumbnail view of the PostgreSQL 8.3 Dump Restore cheat sheet that covers PostgreSQL 8.3 pg_dump, pg_dumpall, pg_restore utilities.

PDF Portrait version 8.5 x 11" of this cheatsheet is available at PostgreSQL 8.3 Dump Restore 8.5 x 11 and also available in PDF A4 format and HTML.

Below is a Thumbnail view of a PostgreSQL 8.3 TSearch Cheat Sheet that covers PostgreSQL 8.3 Full Text search engine constructs.

This one we broke into two pages so its a bit more readable than our PostgreSQL 8.3 cheat sheet.

PDF landscape version 8.5 x 11" of this cheatsheet is available at PostgreSQL 8.3 TSearch Full-Text Search in PDF 8/12 by 11 and also available in PDF A4 format and HTML.

Below is a Thumbnail view of a PostgreSQL 8.3 Cheat Sheet that covers prior PostgreSQL constructs plus new 8.3 features. PDF version of this cheat sheet is available at PostgreSQL 8.3 Cheat sheet in PDF 8/12 by 11", PostgreSQL 8.3 Cheat sheet in PDF A4 and the PostgreSQL 8.3 Cheat sheet in HTML.

We apologize for the small size of the fonts. We tried to keep it to a minimum but had trouble deciding what to leave out to keep it to a one page sheet. So perhaps it would have been better as a 2 part cheatsheet. Anyrate we hope people find it useful.

For people who love cheat sheets, here are two other PostgreSQL cheat sheets on the web which we have found useful and cover slightly different set of things than we do in ours.

• Lorenzo Alberton's PostgreSQL cheat sheet - his is similar in structure to ours but for older versions of PostgreSQL and his focus is a little different.
• Pete Freitag's PostgreSQL cheat sheet - his is much simpler, but has several useful SQL examples.