I need to export the resulting data from a query in PostgreSQL to Excel/CSV.
I use PostgreSQL 8.2.11.
SQL error:
ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file
In statement:
COPY (select distinct(m_price) from m_product)TO '"c:\auto_new.txt"';
Example with Unix-style file name:
COPY (SELECT * FROM tbl) TO '/var/lib/postgres/myfile1.csv' format csv;
Read the manual about COPY (link to version 8.2).
You have to use an absolute path for the target file. Be sure to double quote file names with spaces. Example for MS Windows:
COPY (SELECT * FROM tbl)
TO E'"C:\\Documents and Settings\\Tech\Desktop\\myfile1.csv"' format csv;
In PostgreSQL 8.2, with standard_conforming_strings = off per default, you need to double backslashes, because \ is a special character and interpreted by PostgreSQL. Works in any version. It's all in the fine manual:
filename
 The absolute path name of the input or output file. Windows users might need to use an E'' string and double backslashes used as path separators.
Or the modern syntax with standard_conforming_strings = on (default since Postgres 9.1):
COPY tbl -- short for (SELECT * FROM tbl)
TO '"C:\Documents and Settings\Tech\Desktop\myfile1.csv"' (format csv);
Or you can also use forward slashes for filenames under Windows.
An alternative is to use the meta-command \copy of the default terminal client psql.
You can also use a GUI like pgadmin and copy / paste from the result grid to Excel for small queries.
Closely related answer:
Copy results from a PostgreSQL view in one DB to a table in another
Similar solution for MySQL:
Exporting MYSQL data into Excel/CSV via php
In PostgreSQL 9.4 to create to file CSV with the header in Ubuntu:
COPY (SELECT * FROM tbl) TO '/home/user/Desktop/result_sql.csv' WITH CSV HEADER;
Note: The folder must be writable.
This worked for me:
COPY (SELECT * FROM table)
TO E'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\PostgreSQL\\8.4\\data\\try.csv';
In my case the problem was with the writing permission to a special folder (though I work as administrator), after changing the path to the original data folder under PostgreSQL I had success.
Several GUI tools like Squirrel, SQL Workbench/J, AnySQL, ExecuteQuery can export to Excel files.
Most of those tools are listed in the PostgreSQL wiki:
http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Community_Guide_to_PostgreSQL_GUI_Tools
If you have error like "ERROR: could not open server file "/file": Permission denied" you can fix it that:
Ran through the same problem, and this is the solution I found:
Create a new folder (for instance, tmp) under /home
$ cd /home
make postgres the owner of that folder
$ chown -R postgres:postgres tmp
copy in tmp the files you want to write into the database, and make sure they also are owned by postgres.
That's it. You should be in business after that.
The correct script for postgres (Ubuntu) is:
COPY (SELECT * FROM tbl) TO '/var/lib/postgres/myfile1.csv';
Related
I am using pgAdmin version 4.3 and i want to export one table data to CSV file. I used this query
COPY (select * from product_template) TO 'D:\Product_template_Output.csv' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER;
but it shows error
a relative path is not allowed to use COPY to a file
How can I resolve this problem any help please ?
From the query editor, once you have executed your query, you just have to click on the "Download as CSV (F8)" button or use F8 key.
Source pgAdmin 4 Query Toolbar
Use absolute paths or cd to a known location so that you can ignore the path.
For example cd into documents directory then run the commands there.
If you are able to cd into your documents directory, then the command would be like this:
Assuming you are want to use PSQL from the command line.
cd ~/Documents && psql -h host -d dbname -U user
\COPY (select * from product_template) TO 'Product_template_Output.csv' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER;
The result would be Product_template_Output.csv in your current working directory(Documents folder).
Again using psql.
You have to remove the double quotes:
COPY (select * from product_template) TO 'D:\Product_template_Output.csv'
DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER;
If your PgAdmin instance resides in a remote server, the aforementioned solutions might not be handy for you if you do not have remote access to the server. In this case, simply select all the query data and copy it. Open an excel file and you could paste it. Simple !! Tweaked.
You might have tough time if your query result is too much though.
Try this command:
COPY (select * from product_template) TO 'D:\Product_template_Output.csv' WITH CSV;
In PgAdmin export option is available in file menu.Execute the query, and then we can view the data in the Output pane. Click on the menu FILE -> EXPORT from query window.
PSQL to export data
COPY noviceusers(code, name) FROM 'C:\noviceusers.csv' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER;
https://www.novicetechie.com/2019/12/export-postgresql-data-in-to-excel-file.html for reference.
Write your query to select data on the query tool and execute
Click on the download button on the pgAdmin top bar (selected in red)
Rename the file to your liking
Select which folder to save the file
Congrats!!!
I use PostgreSQL 9.4.1
My query:
copy(select * from city) to 'C:\\temp\\city.csv'
copy(select * from city) to E'C:\\temp\\city.csv'
ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file
********** Error **********
ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file SQL state: 42602
As with this case, it seems likely that you are attempting to use copy from a computer other than the one which hosts your database. copy does I/O from the database host machine's local file system only. If you have access to that filesystem, you can adjust your attempt accordingly. Otherwise, you can use the \copy command in psql.
I am using pgAdmin v1.5 . The first query is
select table_name from information_schema.tables where table_catalog = 'ofbiz' order by table_name
Then I press button download, pgAdmin will return a csv file, is result set of first query.
It could be late but i think it can be helpful.
On Windows, make sure the output directory has gain the read/write right for Everyone (or you can specific user name).
Using slash(/) instead of backslash(), example
COPY DT1111 TO 'D:/TEST/DT1111_POST.CSV' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER;
TLDR: Make sure you also have write permissions in your copy-to location!
I had the exact same first error, ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file, even though I used '/tmp/db.csv' (which is not a relative path).
In my case, the error message was quite misleading, since I was on the host machine, had an absolute filepath and the location existed. My problem was that I used the bitnami postgres:12 docker image, and the tmp folder in the container belongs to root there, while postgres and psql use the postgres user. My solution was to create an export folder there and transform the ownership to the postgres user:
mkdir /tmp/export
chown postgres:postgres /tmp/export
Then I was able to use COPY tablename TO '/tmp/export/db.csv'; successfully.
I tried to make a variable in SQL statement in Postgresql, but it did not work.
There are many csv files stored under the path. I want to set path in Postgresql that can tell copy command where can find csv files.
SQL statement sample:
\set outpath '/home/clients/ats-dev/'
\COPY licenses (_id, name,number_seats ) FROM :outpath + 'licenses.csv' CSV HEADER DELIMITER ',';
\COPY uploaded_files (_id, added_date ) FROM :outpath + 'files.csv' CSV HEADER DELIMITER ',';
It did not work. I got error: no such files. The two files licneses.csv and files.csv are stored under /home/cilents/ats-dev on Ubuntu. I found some sultion that use "\set file 'license.csv'". It did not work for me becacuse I have many csv files. also I tried to use "from : outpath || 'licenses.csv'". it did not work ether. Appreciate for any helps.
Using 9.3.
It looks like psql does not support :variable substitution withinpsql backslash commands.
test=> \set somevar fred
test=> \copy z from :somevar
:somevar: No such file or directory
so you will need to do this via an external tool like the unix shell. e.g.
for f in *.sql; do
psql -c "\\copy $(basename $f) FROM '$f'"
done
You can try COPY command
\set outpath '\'/home/clients/ats-dev/'
COPY licenses (_id, name,number_seats ) FROM :outpath/licenses.csv' WITH CSV HEADER DELIMITER ',';
COPY uploaded_files (_id, added_date ) FROM :outpath/files.csv' WITH CSV HEADER DELIMITER ',';
Note: Files named in a COPY command are read or written directly by the server, not by the client application. Therefore, they must reside on or be accessible to the database server machine, not the client. They must be accessible to and readable or writable by the PostgreSQL user (the user ID the server runs as), not the client. Similarly, the command specified with PROGRAM is executed directly by the server, not by the client application, must be executable by the PostgreSQL user. COPY naming a file or command is only allowed to database superusers, since it allows reading or writing any file that the server has privileges to access.
Documentation: Postgresql 9.3 COPY
It may have been true when this was originally asked, that psql backslash commands didn't support variable interpolation, but in my PostgreSQL 14 instance that's no longer the case. However, the psql manpage is clear that \copy specifically does not support variable interpolation.
I use PostgreSQL 9.4.1
My query:
copy(select * from city) to 'C:\\temp\\city.csv'
copy(select * from city) to E'C:\\temp\\city.csv'
ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file
********** Error **********
ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file SQL state: 42602
As with this case, it seems likely that you are attempting to use copy from a computer other than the one which hosts your database. copy does I/O from the database host machine's local file system only. If you have access to that filesystem, you can adjust your attempt accordingly. Otherwise, you can use the \copy command in psql.
I am using pgAdmin v1.5 . The first query is
select table_name from information_schema.tables where table_catalog = 'ofbiz' order by table_name
Then I press button download, pgAdmin will return a csv file, is result set of first query.
It could be late but i think it can be helpful.
On Windows, make sure the output directory has gain the read/write right for Everyone (or you can specific user name).
Using slash(/) instead of backslash(), example
COPY DT1111 TO 'D:/TEST/DT1111_POST.CSV' DELIMITER ',' CSV HEADER;
TLDR: Make sure you also have write permissions in your copy-to location!
I had the exact same first error, ERROR: relative path not allowed for COPY to file, even though I used '/tmp/db.csv' (which is not a relative path).
In my case, the error message was quite misleading, since I was on the host machine, had an absolute filepath and the location existed. My problem was that I used the bitnami postgres:12 docker image, and the tmp folder in the container belongs to root there, while postgres and psql use the postgres user. My solution was to create an export folder there and transform the ownership to the postgres user:
mkdir /tmp/export
chown postgres:postgres /tmp/export
Then I was able to use COPY tablename TO '/tmp/export/db.csv'; successfully.
I would like to use the COPY function in PostgreSQL to import a CSV file into a PostgreSQL database.
Where it says the filename in the documentation, does the CSV file have to be stored in a specific location or can it be stored in any location.
For example, copy data_table from '/tmp/outputdata.csv' WITH DELIMITER AS ',' CSV QUOTE AS '"';. Where it says tmp, does that mean the tmp folder in the C: drive. Can it be change to another folder name?
It looks like you are confused by Linux vs. Windows file-path notation. What you have there is a Linux path anchored to root. Windows uses drive letters, which you can specify just as well when you are running on Windows.
If you use Windows notation, take care that you have to escape backslashes if you are not using standard_conforming_strings = on - which is the default in Postgres 9.1 or later, but not in older versions. Like:
COPY data_table from E'C:\\tmp\\outputdata.csv' WITH ...
With standard_conforming_strings = on you can simply write:
COPY data_table from 'C:\tmp\outputdata.csv' WITH ...
Note that a PostgreSQL Windows server also understands default path notation with slashes instead of backslashes.
For SQL COPY FROM / TO you can use any path that the owner of server process (postgres by default) has permission to read / write.
For the \copy meta command of the psql client the permissions of current local user apply.
Yes, of course you can specify whatever location where you have read access. There's no problem changing the path of the file.
Keep attention only on the fact that on windows you have to escape the backslash in this way :
copy data_table from 'c:\\Temp\\outputdata.csv' WITH DELIMITER AS ',' CSV QUOTE AS '"';