diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
index 850af1f077584c434b6109dd7df3564423fce16e..b4a226876a9076f5f1adce09e4ec411b604fb72f 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <!--
-$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml,v 1.27 2002/01/20 22:19:56 petere Exp $
+$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/copy.sgml,v 1.28 2002/02/12 21:25:34 tgl Exp $
 PostgreSQL documentation
 -->
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ COPY [ BINARY ] <replaceable class="parameter">table</replaceable> [ WITH OIDS ]
       <term><replaceable class="parameter">filename</replaceable></term>
       <listitem>
        <para>
-	The absolute Unix file name of the input or output file.
+	The absolute Unix path name of the input or output file.
        </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ ERROR: <replaceable>reason</replaceable>
     By default, a text copy uses a tab ("\t") character as a delimiter
     between fields.  The field delimiter may be changed to any other single
     character with the keyword phrase USING DELIMITERS.  Characters
-    in data fields which happen to match the delimiter character will
+    in data fields that happen to match the delimiter character will
     be backslash quoted.
    </para>
    
@@ -265,8 +265,8 @@ ERROR: <replaceable>reason</replaceable>
     by the <application>PostgreSQL</application> user (the user ID the
     server runs as), not the client.
     <command>COPY</command> naming a file is only allowed to database
-    superusers, since it allows writing on any file that the backend has
-    privileges to write on.
+    superusers, since it allows reading or writing any file that the backend
+    has privileges to access.
     
     <tip>
      <para>
@@ -297,57 +297,109 @@ ERROR: <replaceable>reason</replaceable>
   <title>File Formats</title>
   <refsect2>
    <refsect2info>
-    <date>2001-01-02</date>
+    <date>2002-02-12</date>
    </refsect2info>
    <title>Text Format</title>
    <para>
-    When <command>COPY TO</command> is used without the BINARY option,
-    the file generated will have each row (instance) on a single line, with each
-    column (attribute) separated by the delimiter character.  Embedded
-    delimiter characters will be preceded by a backslash character
-    ("\").  The attribute values themselves are strings generated by the
-    output function associated with each attribute type.  The output
-    function for a type should not try to generate the backslash
-    character; this will be handled by <command>COPY</command> itself.
+    When <command>COPY</command> is used without the BINARY option,
+    the file read or written is a text file with one line per table row.
+    Columns (attributes) in a row are separated by the delimiter character.
+    The attribute values themselves are strings generated by the
+    output function, or acceptable to the input function, of each
+    attribute's data type.  The specified null-value string is used in
+    place of attributes that are NULL.
    </para>
    <para>
-    The actual format for each instance is
-    <programlisting>
-&lt;attr1&gt;&lt;<replaceable class=parameter>separator</replaceable>&gt;&lt;attr2&gt;&lt;<replaceable class=parameter>separator</replaceable>&gt;...&lt;<replaceable class=parameter>separator</replaceable>&gt;&lt;attr<replaceable class="parameter">n</replaceable>&gt;&lt;newline&gt;
-    </programlisting>
-    Note that the end of each row is marked by a Unix-style newline
-    ("\n").  <command>COPY FROM</command> will not behave as desired
-    if given a file containing DOS- or Mac-style newlines.
+    If WITH OIDS is specified, the OID is read or written as the first column,
+    preceding the user data columns.  (An error is raised if WITH OIDS is
+    specified for a table that does not have OIDs.)
    </para>
    <para>
-    The OID is emitted as the first column if WITH OIDS is specified.
-    (An error is raised if WITH OIDS is specified for a table that does not
-    have OIDs.)
+    End of data can be represented by a single line containing just
+    backslash-period (<literal>\.</>).  An end-of-data marker is
+    not necessary when reading from a Unix file, since the end of file
+    serves perfectly well; but an end marker must be provided when copying
+    data to or from a client application.
    </para>
    <para>
-    If <command>COPY TO</command> is sending its output to standard
-    output instead of a file, after the last row it will send a backslash ("\")
-    and a period (".") followed by a newline.
-    Similarly, if <command>COPY FROM</command> is reading
-    from standard input, it will expect a backslash ("\") and a period
-    (".") followed by a newline, as the first three characters on a
-    line to denote end-of-file.  However, <command>COPY FROM</command>
-    will terminate correctly (followed by the backend itself) if the
-    input connection is closed before this special end-of-file pattern is
-    found.
+    Backslash characters (<literal>\</>) may be used in the
+    <command>COPY</command> data to quote data characters that might otherwise
+    be taken as row or column delimiters.  In particular, the following
+    characters <emphasis>must</> be preceded by a backslash if they appear
+    as part of an attribute value: backslash itself, newline, and the current
+    delimiter character.
    </para>
    <para>
-    The backslash character has other special meanings.  A literal backslash
-    character is represented as two
-    consecutive backslashes ("\\").  A literal tab character is represented
-    as a backslash and a tab.  (If you are using something other than tab
-    as the column delimiter, backslash that delimiter character to include
-    it in data.)  A literal newline character is
-    represented as a backslash and a newline.  When loading text data
-    not generated by <application>PostgreSQL</application>,
-    you will need to convert backslash
-    characters ("\") to double-backslashes ("\\") to ensure that they 
-    are loaded properly.
+    The following special backslash sequences are recognized by
+    <command>COPY FROM</command>:
+
+   <informaltable>
+    <tgroup cols="2">
+     <thead>
+      <row>
+       <entry>Sequence</entry>
+       <entry>Represents</entry>
+      </row>
+     </thead>
+
+     <tbody>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\b</></entry>
+       <entry>Backspace (ASCII 8)</entry>
+      </row>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\f</></entry>
+       <entry>Form feed (ASCII 12)</entry>
+      </row>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\n</></entry>
+       <entry>Newline (ASCII 10)</entry>
+      </row>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\r</></entry>
+       <entry>Carriage return (ASCII 13)</entry>
+      </row>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\t</></entry>
+       <entry>Tab (ASCII 9)</entry>
+      </row>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\v</></entry>
+       <entry>Vertical tab (ASCII 11)</entry>
+      </row>
+      <row>
+       <entry><literal>\</><replaceable>digits</></entry>
+       <entry>Backslash followed by one to three octal digits specifies
+       the character with that numeric code</entry>
+      </row>
+     </tbody>
+    </tgroup>
+   </informaltable>
+
+    Presently, <command>COPY TO</command> will never emit an octal-digits
+    backslash sequence, but it does use the other sequences listed above
+    for those control characters.
+   </para>
+   <para>
+    Never put a backslash before a data character <literal>N</> or period
+    (<literal>.</>). Such pairs will be mistaken for the default null string
+    or the end-of-data marker, respectively.  Any other backslashed character
+    that is not mentioned in the above table will be taken to represent itself.
+   </para>
+   <para>
+    It is strongly recommended that applications generating COPY data convert
+    data newlines and carriage returns to the <literal>\n</> and
+    <literal>\r</> sequences respectively.  At present
+    (<productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 7.2 and older versions) it is
+    possible to represent a data carriage return without any special quoting,
+    and to represent a data newline by a backslash and newline.  However,
+    these representations will not be accepted by default in future releases.
+   </para>
+   <para>
+    Note that the end of each row is marked by a Unix-style newline
+    ("\n").  Presently, <command>COPY FROM</command> will not behave as
+    desired if given a file containing DOS- or Mac-style newlines.
+    This is expected to change in future releases.
    </para>
   </refsect2>
 
diff --git a/src/backend/commands/copy.c b/src/backend/commands/copy.c
index b944279d7e1e21f5a0302a98fc70427cff72e87f..f42b865687c6fa0caa6f0904fe0e4be786e1a69e 100644
--- a/src/backend/commands/copy.c
+++ b/src/backend/commands/copy.c
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
  *
  *
  * IDENTIFICATION
- *	  $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/src/backend/commands/copy.c,v 1.144 2001/12/04 21:19:57 tgl Exp $
+ *	  $Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/src/backend/commands/copy.c,v 1.145 2002/02/12 21:25:41 tgl Exp $
  *
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 #endif
 
 #define ISOCTAL(c) (((c) >= '0') && ((c) <= '7'))
-#define VALUE(c) ((c) - '0')
+#define OCTVALUE(c) ((c) - '0')
 
 
 /* non-export function prototypes */
@@ -83,13 +83,13 @@ static int	server_encoding;
  * Internal communications functions
  */
 static void CopySendData(void *databuf, int datasize, FILE *fp);
-static void CopySendString(char *str, FILE *fp);
+static void CopySendString(const char *str, FILE *fp);
 static void CopySendChar(char c, FILE *fp);
 static void CopyGetData(void *databuf, int datasize, FILE *fp);
 static int	CopyGetChar(FILE *fp);
 static int	CopyGetEof(FILE *fp);
 static int	CopyPeekChar(FILE *fp);
-static void CopyDonePeek(FILE *fp, int c, int pickup);
+static void CopyDonePeek(FILE *fp, int c, bool pickup);
 
 /*
  * CopySendData sends output data either to the file
@@ -118,9 +118,9 @@ CopySendData(void *databuf, int datasize, FILE *fp)
 }
 
 static void
-CopySendString(char *str, FILE *fp)
+CopySendString(const char *str, FILE *fp)
 {
-	CopySendData(str, strlen(str), fp);
+	CopySendData((void *) str, strlen(str), fp);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -178,10 +178,12 @@ CopyGetEof(FILE *fp)
 
 /*
  * CopyPeekChar reads a byte in "peekable" mode.
+ *
  * after each call to CopyPeekChar, a call to CopyDonePeek _must_
  * follow, unless EOF was returned.
- * CopyDonePeek will either take the peeked char off the steam
- * (if pickup is != 0) or leave it on the stream (if pickup == 0)
+ *
+ * CopyDonePeek will either take the peeked char off the stream
+ * (if pickup is true) or leave it on the stream (if pickup is false).
  */
 static int
 CopyPeekChar(FILE *fp)
@@ -199,15 +201,13 @@ CopyPeekChar(FILE *fp)
 }
 
 static void
-CopyDonePeek(FILE *fp, int c, int pickup)
+CopyDonePeek(FILE *fp, int c, bool pickup)
 {
 	if (!fp)
 	{
 		if (pickup)
 		{
-			/*
-			 * We want to pick it up
-			 */
+			/* We want to pick it up */
 			(void) pq_getbyte();
 		}
 		/* If we didn't want to pick it up, just leave it where it sits */
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ CopyDonePeek(FILE *fp, int c, int pickup)
 			/* We don't want to pick it up - so put it back in there */
 			ungetc(c, fp);
 		}
-		/* If we wanted to pick it up, it's already there */
+		/* If we wanted to pick it up, it's already done */
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1078,31 +1078,30 @@ CopyReadAttribute(FILE *fp, bool *isnull, char *delim, int *newline, char *null_
 					{
 						int			val;
 
-						val = VALUE(c);
+						val = OCTVALUE(c);
 						c = CopyPeekChar(fp);
 						if (ISOCTAL(c))
 						{
-							val = (val << 3) + VALUE(c);
-							CopyDonePeek(fp, c, 1);		/* Pick up the
-														 * character! */
+							val = (val << 3) + OCTVALUE(c);
+							CopyDonePeek(fp, c, true /*pick up*/);
 							c = CopyPeekChar(fp);
 							if (ISOCTAL(c))
 							{
-								CopyDonePeek(fp, c, 1); /* pick up! */
-								val = (val << 3) + VALUE(c);
+								val = (val << 3) + OCTVALUE(c);
+								CopyDonePeek(fp, c, true /*pick up*/);
 							}
 							else
 							{
 								if (c == EOF)
 									goto endOfFile;
-								CopyDonePeek(fp, c, 0); /* Return to stream! */
+								CopyDonePeek(fp, c, false /*put back*/);
 							}
 						}
 						else
 						{
 							if (c == EOF)
 								goto endOfFile;
-							CopyDonePeek(fp, c, 0);		/* Return to stream! */
+							CopyDonePeek(fp, c, false /*put back*/);
 						}
 						c = val & 0377;
 					}
@@ -1144,6 +1143,7 @@ CopyReadAttribute(FILE *fp, bool *isnull, char *delim, int *newline, char *null_
 		}
 		appendStringInfoCharMacro(&attribute_buf, c);
 #ifdef MULTIBYTE
+		/* XXX shouldn't this be done even when encoding is the same? */
 		if (client_encoding != server_encoding)
 		{
 			/* get additional bytes of the char, if any */
@@ -1190,15 +1190,18 @@ CopyAttributeOut(FILE *fp, char *server_string, char *delim)
 {
 	char	   *string;
 	char		c;
+	char		delimc = delim[0];
 
 #ifdef MULTIBYTE
+	bool		same_encoding;
 	char	   *string_start;
 	int			mblen;
 	int			i;
 #endif
 
 #ifdef MULTIBYTE
-	if (client_encoding != server_encoding)
+	same_encoding = (server_encoding == client_encoding);
+	if (!same_encoding)
 	{
 		string = (char *) pg_server_to_client((unsigned char *) server_string,
 											  strlen(server_string));
@@ -1207,31 +1210,64 @@ CopyAttributeOut(FILE *fp, char *server_string, char *delim)
 	else
 	{
 		string = server_string;
-		string_start = NULL;	/* unused, but keep compiler quiet */
+		string_start = NULL;
 	}
 #else
 	string = server_string;
 #endif
 
 #ifdef MULTIBYTE
-	for (; (mblen = (server_encoding == client_encoding ? 1 : pg_encoding_mblen(client_encoding, string))) &&
-		 ((c = *string) != '\0'); string += mblen)
+	for (; (c = *string) != '\0'; string += mblen)
 #else
 	for (; (c = *string) != '\0'; string++)
 #endif
 	{
-		if (c == delim[0] || c == '\n' || c == '\\')
-			CopySendChar('\\', fp);
 #ifdef MULTIBYTE
-		for (i = 0; i < mblen; i++)
-			CopySendChar(*(string + i), fp);
-#else
-		CopySendChar(c, fp);
+		mblen = 1;
 #endif
+		switch (c)
+		{
+			case '\b':
+				CopySendString("\\b", fp);
+				break;
+			case '\f':
+				CopySendString("\\f", fp);
+				break;
+			case '\n':
+				CopySendString("\\n", fp);
+				break;
+			case '\r':
+				CopySendString("\\r", fp);
+				break;
+			case '\t':
+				CopySendString("\\t", fp);
+				break;
+			case '\v':
+				CopySendString("\\v", fp);
+				break;
+			case '\\':
+				CopySendString("\\\\", fp);
+				break;
+			default:
+				if (c == delimc)
+					CopySendChar('\\', fp);
+				CopySendChar(c, fp);
+#ifdef MULTIBYTE
+				/* XXX shouldn't this be done even when encoding is same? */
+				if (!same_encoding)
+				{
+					/* send additional bytes of the char, if any */
+					mblen = pg_encoding_mblen(client_encoding, string);
+					for (i = 1; i < mblen; i++)
+						CopySendChar(string[i], fp);
+				}
+#endif
+				break;
+		}
 	}
 
 #ifdef MULTIBYTE
-	if (client_encoding != server_encoding)
+	if (string_start)
 		pfree(string_start);	/* pfree pg_server_to_client result */
 #endif
 }