Say I get a large query back. Postgres gives me the --More-- indicator. Pressing <space> moves down a page. Pressing <enter> moves down a line. Is there a way to scroll back up? Is it possible to pipe the output to something like less?
I'm accessing PostgreSQL 9.5 on CentOS7 through PuTTY.
For example:
pundb=# \x on
pundb=# select * from pg_roles;
-[ RECORD 1 ]--+-------------
rolname | dinner
rolsuper | t
rolinherit | t
rolcreaterole | t
rolcreatedb | t
rolcanlogin | t
rolreplication | t
rolconnlimit | -1
rolpassword | ********
rolvaliduntil |
rolbypassrls | t
rolconfig |
oid | 10
-[ RECORD 2 ]--+-------------
rolname | sushi
rolsuper | f
rolinherit | t
rolcreaterole | f
rolcreatedb | f
rolcanlogin | t
rolreplication | f
rolconnlimit | -1
rolpassword | ********
rolvaliduntil |
rolbypassrls | f
rolconfig |
oid | 16384
-[ RECORD 3 ]--+-------------
rolname | drum
rolsuper | f
rolinherit | t
rolcreaterole | f
rolcreatedb | f
--More--
EDIT: I know that h takes me to the help. It says
b or ctrl-B Skip backwards k screenfuls of text [1]
but this does not work. Maybe because I'm in PuTTY?
You're probably using a $PAGER that doesn't support scrolling upwards. E.g. more.
Try executing postgresql client using a different PAGER variable:
PAGER=less psql [...]
Or:
export PAGER=less
psql [...]
Another viable option is most which some people like better than less, but it's not quite as ubiquitous as less; you may have to install it.
If you want to make the change permanent, insert the above export line into your ~/.bash_profile. Then, of course, to apply to your shells, you will need to log out and log in again.
Keep in mind that you can also add arguments to less inside $PAGER. I like the following options for less(1):
# ~/.bash_profile
# -R: Handle colors correctly
# -S: Chop long lines (scroll left/right using arrow keys or h/l)
export PAGER='less -RS'
Note: Updating this environment variable globally will affect many things that use the $PAGER environment variable, but hey, it'll only enhance the experience right?