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Version: 1.4 (Preview)

PostgreSQL Examples

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

Connection Types​

PostgreSQL exports support three connection types:

  • pgsql: Standard PostgreSQL protocol
  • pgcopy: PostgreSQL COPY protocol (fastest for bulk exports)
  • adbc_pgsql: ADBC FastDriver — ultra-fast, Parquet-only export (see ADBC Examples)
ADBC Support

The adbc_pgsql connection type uses the Arpe.io ADBC FastDriver for ultra-fast, Arrow-native Parquet exports. Output is Parquet-only — see the ADBC Examples section below.

Single-threaded Export​

Simple export without parallelization.

.\FastBCP.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.

.\FastBCP.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.

.\FastBCP.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:

.\FastBCP.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:

.\FastBCP.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 - Physical Method​

Parallel export using the physical row identifier (ctid).

Physical on PostgreSQL

With a PostgreSQL connection type (pgsql, pgcopy, adbc_pgsql), the Physical method resolves to the ctid strategy (formerly --parallelmethod Ctid, now deprecated). It is very efficient for full table exports and does not require a distribute key column. --sourceschema and --sourcetable are required.

.\FastBCP.exe `
  --connectiontype "pgsql" `
  --server "localhost" `
  --port "5432" `
  --database "postgres" `
  --user "postgres" `
  --password "postgres" `
  --sourceschema "public" `
  --sourcetable "lineitem" `
  --directory "C:\temp" `
  --fileoutput "pg_lineitem_physical.csv" `
  --decimalseparator "." `
  --delimiter "|" `
  --dateformat "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" `
  --encoding "UTF-8" `
  --parallelmethod "Physical" `
  --paralleldegree 8 `
  --merge "False" `
  --runid "pgsql_to_csv_parallel8_physical"

Export to Parquet​

Export PostgreSQL data to Parquet format.

Single-threaded:

.\FastBCP.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 Physical (Ctid):

.\FastBCP.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 "Physical" `
  --paralleldegree 10 `
  --merge "False"

ODBC Connection​

Using ODBC DSN for PostgreSQL connection.

Single-threaded:

.\FastBCP.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:

.\FastBCP.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:

.\FastBCP.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"

ADBC Examples​

The adbc_pgsql connection type uses the Arpe.io ADBC FastDriver for ultra-fast, Arrow-native exports. Output is Parquet-only — see Connection Parameters for details.

./FastBCP \
  --connectiontype "adbc_pgsql" \
  --server "localhost:5432" \
  --user "pytabextract_pguser" \
  --password "FastPassword" \
  --database "tpch" \
  --sourceschema "tpch10" \
  --sourcetable "lineitem" \
  --directory "./" \
  --fileoutput "{sourcetable}.parquet" \
  --method "None"
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