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PostgreSQL Examples

Comprehensive examples for exporting data from PostgreSQL using native connectors (pgsql, pgcopy).

Connection Types​

PostgreSQL exports support two connection types:

  • pgsql: Standard PostgreSQL protocol
  • pgcopy: PostgreSQL COPY protocol (fastest for bulk exports)

Single-threaded Export​

Simple export without parallelization.

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --query "SELECT * FROM lineitem LIMIT 1000" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "None"

Parallel Export - Random Method​

Export using Random distribution with modulo operation.

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --query "SELECT * FROM lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem_random.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "Random" `
  --distributekeycolumn "l_linenumber" `
  --paralleldegree 8 `
  --merge "False" `
  --runid "pgsql_to_csv_parallel8_random"

Parallel Export - DataDriven Method​

Export using DataDriven distribution based on distinct column values.

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --sourceschema "public" `
  --sourcetable "lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem_dd.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "DataDriven" `
  --distributekeycolumn "l_shipmode" `
  --paralleldegree 10 `
  --merge "False" `
  --runid "pgsql_to_csv_parallel10_datadriven"

Parallel Export - Ntile Method​

Export using Ntile for evenly distributed chunks.

Full table:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --sourceschema "public" `
  --sourcetable "lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem_ntile.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "Ntile" `
  --distributekeycolumn "l_orderkey" `
  --paralleldegree 12 `
  --merge "False" `
  --runid "pgsql_to_csv_parallel12_ntile"

With query filter:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --query "SELECT * FROM lineitem WHERE l_shipdate BETWEEN '1995-01-01' AND '1995-12-31'" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem_ntile.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "Ntile" `
  --distributekeycolumn "l_orderkey" `
  --paralleldegree 12 `
  --merge "False" `
  --runid "pgsql_to_csv_parallel12_ntile_filtered"

Parallel Export - Ctid Method​

PostgreSQL-specific parallel export using physical row identifier (ctid).

PostgreSQL-Specific

The Ctid method is unique to PostgreSQL and uses the physical row identifier for parallel data distribution. This is very efficient for full table exports.

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --sourceschema "public" `
  --sourcetable "lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem_ctid.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "Ctid" `
  --paralleldegree 8 `
  --merge "False" `
  --runid "pgsql_to_csv_parallel8_ctid"

Export to Parquet​

Export PostgreSQL data to Parquet format.

Single-threaded:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --sourceschema "public" `
  --sourcetable "lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem.parquet" `
  --parallelmethod "None"

Parallel with Ctid:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --sourceschema "public" `
  --sourcetable "lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem.parquet" `
  --parallelmethod "Ctid" `
  --paralleldegree 10 `
  --merge "False"

ODBC Connection​

Using ODBC DSN for PostgreSQL connection.

Single-threaded:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "odbc" `
  --dsn "PostgreSQL_DSN" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_test.csv" `
  --query "SELECT * FROM public.test_table" `
  --parallelmethod "None" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8"

Parallel Random:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "odbc" `
  --dsn "PostgreSQL_DSN" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_test.csv" `
  --query "SELECT * FROM public.test_table" `
  --parallelmethod "Random" `
  --distributekeycolumn "id" `
  --paralleldegree 6 `
  --merge "False" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8"

Parallel DataDriven:

.\\FastTransfer.exe `
  --connectiontype "odbc" `
  --dsn "PostgreSQL_DSN" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_test.csv" `
  --query "SELECT * FROM public.test_table" `
  --parallelmethod "DataDriven" `
  --distributekeycolumn "category" `
  --paralleldegree 6 `
  --merge "False" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8"
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