How to see the CREATE VIEW code for a view in PostgreSQL?
PostgresqlViewDefinitionPostgresql Problem Overview
Is there an easy way to see the code used to create a view using the PostgreSQL command-line client?
Something like the SHOW CREATE VIEW from MySQL.
Postgresql Solutions
Solution 1 - Postgresql
Kept having to return here to look up pg_get_viewdef (how to remember that!!), so searched for a more memorable command... and got it:
\d+ viewname
You can see similar sorts of commands by typing \? at the pgsql command line.
Bonus tip: The emacs command sql-postgres makes pgsql a lot more pleasant (edit, copy, paste, command history).
Solution 2 - Postgresql
select pg_get_viewdef('viewname', true)
A list of all those functions is available in the manual:
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/static/functions-info.html
Solution 3 - Postgresql
select definition from pg_views where viewname = 'my_view'
Solution 4 - Postgresql
If you want an ANSI SQL-92 version:
select view_definition from information_schema.views where table_name = 'view_name';
Solution 5 - Postgresql
Good news from v9.6 and above. View editing are now native from psql. Just invoke \ev command. View definitions will show in your configured editor.
julian@assange=# \ev your_view_names
Bonus. Some useful command to interact with query buffer.
Query Buffer
\e [FILE] [LINE] edit the query buffer (or file) with external editor
\ef [FUNCNAME [LINE]] edit function definition with external editor
\ev [VIEWNAME [LINE]] edit view definition with external editor
\p show the contents of the query buffer
\r reset (clear) the query buffer
\s [FILE] display history or save it to file
\w FILE write query buffer to file
Solution 6 - Postgresql
These is a little thing to point out.
Using the function pg_get_viewdef or pg_views or information_schema.views you will always get a rewritten version of your original DDL.
The rewritten version may or not be the same as your original DDL script.
If the Rule Manager rewrite your view definition your original DLL will be lost and you will able to read the only the rewritten version of your view definition.
Not all views are rewritten but if you use sub-select or joins probably your views will be rewritten.
Solution 7 - Postgresql
In psql cli , you can use
\d+ <yourViewName>
\sv <yourViewName>
Output as follows:
\d+ v_ma_students
View "public.v_ma_students"
Column | Type | Collation | Nullable | Default | Storage | De
scription
--------+-----------------------+-----------+----------+---------+----------+---
SOMETHINGS HERE
View definition:
SELECT student.sno,
student.sname,
student.ssex,
student.sage,
student.sdept
FROM student
WHERE student.sdept::text = 'MA'::text;
Options: check_option=cascaded
\sv v_ma_students
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW public.v_ma_students AS
SELECT student.sno,
student.sname,
student.ssex,
student.sage,
student.sdept
FROM student
WHERE student.sdept::text = 'MA'::text
WITH CASCADED CHECK OPTION
Solution 8 - Postgresql
In the command line client psql you can use following command:
\sv <VIEWNAME>
Solution 9 - Postgresql
The straightforward way to find the 'CREATE TABLE ...' query is to use this query -
SHOW TABLE your_schema_name.your_table_name