PostgreSQL Reference Manual - Volume 1 - SQL Language Reference by The PostgreSQL Global Development Group Paperback (6"x9"), 716 pages ISBN 0954612027 RRP £32.00 ($49.95) Sales of this book support the PostgreSQL project! Get a printed copy>>>

PostgreSQL Reference Manual Volume 1 Buy the book here! >>> support free documentation

2.1.2.1 String Constants

A string constant in SQL is an arbitrary sequence of characters bounded by single quotes ('), for example 'This is a string'. To include a single-quote character within a string constant, write two adjacent single quotes, e.g. 'Dianne''s horse'. Note that this is not the same as a double-quote character (").

Two string constants that are only separated by whitespace with at least one newline are concatenated and effectively treated as if the string had been written as one constant. For example:

SELECT 'foo'
'bar';

is equivalent to

SELECT 'foobar';

but

SELECT 'foo'      'bar';

is not valid syntax. (This slightly bizarre behavior is specified by SQL; PostgreSQL is following the standard.)

PostgreSQL also accepts “escape” string constants, which are an extension to the SQL standard. An escape string constant is specified by writing the letter E (upper or lower case) just before the opening single quote, e.g. E'foo'. (When continuing an escape string constant across lines, write E only before the first opening quote.) Within an escape string, a backslash character (\) begins a C-like backslash escape sequence, in which the combination of backslash and following character(s) represents a special byte value. \b is a backspace, \f is a form feed, \n is a newline, \r is a carriage return, \t is a tab. Also supported are \digits, where digits represents an octal byte value, and \xhexdigits, where hexdigits represents a hexadecimal byte value. (It is your responsibility that the byte sequences you create are valid characters in the server character set encoding.) Any other character following a backslash is taken literally. Thus, to include a backslash character, write two backslashes (\\). Also, a single quote can be included in an escape string by writing \', in addition to the normal way of ''.

Caution: If the configuration parameter standard_conforming_strings is off, then PostgreSQL recognizes backslash escapes in both regular and escape string constants. This is for backward compatibility with the historical behavior, in which backslash escapes were always recognized. Although standard_conforming_strings currently defaults to off, the default will change to on in a future release for improved standards compliance. Applications are therefore encouraged to migrate away from using backslash escapes. If you need to use a backslash escape to represent a special character, write the constant with an E to be sure it will be handled the same way in future releases.

In addition to standard_conforming_strings, the configuration parameters escape_string_warning and backslash_quote govern treatment of backslashes in string constants.

The character with the code zero cannot be in a string constant.