Once you have constructed a database, you can access it by:
running the Postgres terminal monitor program (psql) which allows you to interactively enter, edit, and execute SQL commands.
writing a C program using the libpq subroutine library. This allows you to submit SQL commands from C and get answers and status messages back to your program. This interface is discussed further in the PostgreSQL Programmer's Guide.
% psql mydb
You will be greeted with the following message:
Welcome to the Postgres interactive sql monitor:
type \? for help on slash commands
type \q to quit
type \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query
You are currently connected to the database: mydb
mydb=>
This prompt indicates that the terminal monitor is listening to you and that you can type SQL queries into a workspace maintained by the terminal monitor. The psql program responds to escape codes that begin with the backslash character, "\". For example, you can get help on the syntax of various Postgres SQL commands by typing:
mydb=> \h
Once you have finished entering your queries into the
workspace, you can pass the contents of the workspace
to the Postgres server by typing:
mydb=> \g
This tells the server to process the query. If you
terminate your query with a semicolon, the backslash-g is not
necessary. psql will automatically
process semicolon terminated queries.
To read queries from a file, say myFile, instead of
entering them interactively, type:
mydb=> \i fileName
To get out of psql and return to UNIX, type
mydb=> \q
and psql will quit and return
you to your command
shell. (For more escape codes, type backslash-h at the monitor
prompt.)
White space (i.e., spaces, tabs and newlines) may be
used freely in SQL queries.
Single-line comments are denoted by two dashes
("--"). Everything after the dashes up to the end of the
line is ignored. Multiple-line comments, and comments within a line,
are denoted by "/* ... */", a convention borrowed
from Ingres.