Feedback-ID: ie3de48e3:Fastmail
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 2025 21:20:28 +0100
From: =?utf-8?Q?=C3=81lvaro?= Herrera <alvherre@kurilemu.de>
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Cc: Pg Hackers <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>,
	Daniel Verite <daniel@manitou-mail.org>
Subject: Re: psql --help=variables missing csv_fieldsep
Message-ID: <202511032011.xiybfttm3rwc@alvherre.pgsql>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
In-Reply-To: <349600.1762193031@sss.pgh.pa.us>
Archived-At: 
 <https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/202511032011.xiybfttm3rwc%40alvherre.pgsql>
Precedence: bulk

On 2025-Nov-03, Tom Lane wrote:

> =?utf-8?Q?=C3=81lvaro?= Herrera <alvherre@kurilemu.de> writes:
> > While messing with the \pset boolean display patch, I noticed that psql
> > --help=variables is missing csv_fieldsep.  Is there a reason for this?
> 
> But wait ... is it actually a variable?  help.c does list it, but
> as a \pset option:
> 
>     HELP0("  \\pset [NAME [VALUE]]   set table output option\n"
>           "                         (border|columns|csv_fieldsep|display_false|display_true|\n"

Yeah, there are two lists: one here in the "\?" output, and another in
the "\? variables" output, which is also `psql --help=variables`.  It
lists actual variables but also \pset options and environment variables
psql recognizes.  I find this one you quote somewhat unreadable, so I
was going to propose to remove it, and instead direct the user to look
at "\?  variables" for the exhaustive list.  That one is also a bit
easier to cross-check, I think.  (There's also tab-complete.)

-- 
Álvaro Herrera               48°01'N 7°57'E  —  https://www.EnterpriseDB.com/
"No renuncies a nada. No te aferres a nada."