# [ PostgreSQL Advanced ] ( CheatSheet )

1. Advanced Database Operations

● Clone a database: CREATE DATABASE new_db WITH TEMPLATE old_db OWNER

db_owner;
● Drop all tables in a database: DO $$ DECLARE r RECORD; BEGIN FOR r IN
(SELECT tablename FROM pg_tables WHERE schemaname = current_schema())
LOOP EXECUTE 'DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ' || quote_ident(r.tablename) || '
CASCADE'; END LOOP; END $$;
● Rename a database: ALTER DATABASE old_db RENAME TO new_db;

2. Advanced Table Operations

● Partition a table: CREATE TABLE tablename_part PARTITION OF tablename FOR

VALUES FROM (min_value) TO (max_value);
● Convert a table to unlogged: ALTER TABLE tablename SET UNLOGGED;
● Move a table to another schema: ALTER TABLE old_schema.tablename SET
SCHEMA new_schema;
● Change a column collation: ALTER TABLE tablename ALTER COLUMN column_name
TYPE VARCHAR(255) COLLATE "C";
● Copy a table structure only: CREATE TABLE new_table (LIKE old_table
INCLUDING ALL);

3. Advanced Data Manipulation

● Insert multiple rows: INSERT INTO tablename (column1, column2) VALUES

(value1, value2), (value3, value4), (value5, value6);
● Insert if not exists: INSERT INTO tablename (column1, column2) SELECT
value1, value2 WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM tablename WHERE
condition);
● Insert or update: INSERT INTO tablename (column1, column2) VALUES
(value1, value2) ON CONFLICT (column1) DO UPDATE SET column2 =
EXCLUDED.column2;
● Batch update: UPDATE tablename SET column = CASE WHEN condition1 THEN
value1 WHEN condition2 THEN value2 ELSE column END WHERE id IN (id1, id2,
id3);
● Delete all rows and reset identity: TRUNCATE TABLE tablename RESTART
IDENTITY;

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4. Advanced Subqueries and CTEs

● CTE for recursive queries: WITH RECURSIVE cte_name AS (SELECT column1,

column2 FROM table WHERE condition UNION ALL SELECT column1, column2 FROM
table JOIN cte_name ON table.column = cte_name.column) SELECT * FROM
cte_name;
● Use of subquery in JOIN: SELECT * FROM table1 JOIN (SELECT column FROM
table2 WHERE condition) AS subquery ON table1.column = subquery.column;
● Correlated subquery: SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE column1 = (SELECT
MAX(column2) FROM table2 WHERE table2.foreign_key = table1.key);

5. Advanced User and Permissions Management

● Create a user with specific privileges: CREATE USER username WITH PASSWORD
'password'; GRANT SELECT, INSERT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA schema_name TO
username;
● Clone a user with privileges: CREATE USER newuser WITH PASSWORD
'password'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE dbname TO newuser;
● Show users with specific privileges: SELECT grantee FROM
information_schema.role_table_grants WHERE table_schema = 'public' AND
privilege_type = 'SELECT';

6. Advanced Backup and Recovery

● Incremental backup using pg_basebackup: pg_basebackup -D /path/to/backup

-Fp -Xs -P -v;
● Restore specific table from backup: pg_restore -d dbname -t tablename
backupfile.dump;
● Hot backup with pg_basebackup: pg_basebackup -D /data/backups -Ft -z -P
-x;

7. Advanced Performance and Maintenance

● Partition pruning: ALTER TABLE tablename DETACH PARTITION partition_name;

● Query profiling with EXPLAIN ANALYZE: EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT * FROM
tablename;
● Defragment table with VACUUM FULL: VACUUM FULL tablename;

8. Advanced String and Text Functions

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 ● Extract part of string: SELECT substring(column FROM 'pattern') FROM
tablename;
● Find and replace using REGEXP: SELECT regexp_replace(column, 'pattern',
'replacement') FROM tablename;
● Pattern matching: SELECT * FROM tablename WHERE column ~ 'pattern';

9. Advanced Numeric and Date Functions

● Calculate age from date: SELECT age(birthdate) FROM tablename;

● Generate a sequence of numbers: SELECT generate_series(1, 10);
● Format number with commas: SELECT to_char(column, 'FM999,999,999') FROM
tablename;

10. Advanced Conditional Expressions

● Nested CASE statements: SELECT CASE WHEN condition1 THEN result1 WHEN
condition2 THEN result2 ELSE default_result END FROM tablename;
● Conditional aggregation: SELECT SUM(CASE WHEN condition THEN column ELSE
0 END) FROM tablename;
● CASE in ORDER BY: SELECT * FROM tablename ORDER BY CASE WHEN condition1
THEN column1 WHEN condition2 THEN column2 ELSE column3 END;

11. Advanced Join Techniques

● Join with USING clause: SELECT * FROM table1 JOIN table2 USING
(common_column);
● Anti Join (not in): SELECT * FROM table1 LEFT JOIN table2 ON
table1.column = table2.column WHERE table2.column IS NULL;
● Semi Join (exists): SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM
table2 WHERE table1.column = table2.column);

12. Advanced Set Operations

● Intersect using INTERSECT: SELECT column FROM table1 INTERSECT SELECT

column FROM table2;
● Except using EXCEPT: SELECT column FROM table1 EXCEPT SELECT column FROM
table2;

13. Advanced Security

● Generate UUID: SELECT gen_random_uuid();

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 ● Encrypt a column: UPDATE tablename SET column = pgp_sym_encrypt(column,
'key');
● Decrypt a column: SELECT pgp_sym_decrypt(column, 'key') FROM tablename;

14. Advanced Transaction Control

● Savepoint and rollback to savepoint: SAVEPOINT savepoint_name; ROLLBACK

TO SAVEPOINT savepoint_name;
● Set transaction isolation level: SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL
SERIALIZABLE;
● Show transaction isolation level: SHOW TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL;

15. Advanced Administration

● Change user password: ALTER USER username WITH PASSWORD 'newpassword';

● Check PostgreSQL server uptime: SELECT date_trunc('second',
current_timestamp - pg_postmaster_start_time()) AS uptime;
● Monitor slow queries: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE state =
'active' AND query_start < current_timestamp - interval '5 minutes';

16. Advanced Debugging and Profiling

● Log all queries for debugging: ALTER SYSTEM SET log_statement = 'all';
● Show current locks: SELECT * FROM pg_locks;
● Analyze query cost: EXPLAIN (ANALYZE, BUFFERS) SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column = 'value';

17. Advanced Index and Performance Optimization

● Add composite index: CREATE INDEX idx_name ON tablename (column1,

column2);
● Drop all indexes in a table: DO $$ DECLARE r RECORD; BEGIN FOR r IN
(SELECT indexname FROM pg_indexes WHERE tablename = 'tablename') LOOP
EXECUTE 'DROP INDEX ' || quote_ident(r.indexname); END LOOP; END $$;
● Check index usage: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_user_indexes WHERE relname =
'tablename';

18. Advanced Numeric and Date Functions

● Add minutes to a time: SELECT column + interval '15 minutes' FROM

tablename;

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 ● Round to nearest integer: SELECT round(column) FROM tablename;
● Find the difference in months: SELECT date_part('month', age(date1,
date2)) FROM tablename;

19. Advanced Aggregate Functions Beyond Basics

● Median of a column: SELECT percentile_cont(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY

column) FROM tablename;
● Percentile calculation: SELECT percentile_cont(0.9) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER
BY column) FROM tablename;
● Mode of a column: SELECT mode() WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY column) FROM
tablename;

20. Advanced Database Maintenance and Inspection

● Check for corrupted tables: SELECT * FROM pg_catalog.pg_tables WHERE

schemaname = 'public' AND tablename NOT IN (SELECT relname FROM
pg_stat_user_tables);
● Repair corrupted table: REINDEX TABLE tablename;
● Inspect table space usage: SELECT
pg_size_pretty(pg_total_relation_size('tablename')) AS size;

21. Advanced Information Schema Usage

● Get column statistics: SELECT * FROM information_schema.columns WHERE

table_name = 'tablename';
● List foreign keys in a schema: SELECT conname AS constraint_name,
conrelid::regclass AS table_from, conkey AS fk_cols, confrelid::regclass
AS table_to, confkey AS pk_cols FROM pg_constraint WHERE contype = 'f'
AND connamespace = 'schema_name'::regnamespace;
● Get table size: SELECT relname AS table_name,
pg_size_pretty(pg_total_relation_size(relid)) AS total_size FROM
pg_catalog.pg_statio_user_tables ORDER BY pg_total_relation_size(relid)
DESC;

22. Advanced Performance Schema for Diagnostics

● Track wait events: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE wait_event IS NOT

NULL;
● Check IO statistics: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_io WHERE relname =
'tablename';

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 ● Monitor query execution time: SELECT query, total_exec_time,
mean_exec_time FROM pg_stat_statements ORDER BY total_exec_time DESC
LIMIT 10;

23. Advanced Query Optimization Techniques

● Use index hints: SELECT * FROM tablename /*+ IndexScan(tablename

index_name) */ WHERE column = 'value';
● Force index usage: SET enable_seqscan = OFF; SELECT * FROM tablename
WHERE column = 'value'; SET enable_seqscan = ON;
● Optimize query plan: SET enable_nestloop = OFF; EXPLAIN ANALYZE SELECT *
FROM tablename WHERE column = 'value'; SET enable_nestloop = ON;

24. Advanced Data Export and Import

● Export data to CSV: COPY (SELECT * FROM tablename) TO '/path/to/file.csv'

WITH CSV HEADER;
● Import data from CSV: COPY tablename FROM '/path/to/file.csv' WITH CSV
HEADER;
● Export specific columns: COPY (SELECT column1, column2 FROM tablename) TO
'/path/to/file.csv' WITH CSV HEADER;

25. Advanced JSON Functions

● Extract JSON value: SELECT json_column->>'key' FROM tablename;

● Update JSON value: UPDATE tablename SET json_column =
jsonb_set(json_column, '{key}', '"new_value"') WHERE condition;
● Merge JSON values: SELECT jsonb_concat(json_column1, json_column2) FROM
tablename;

26. Advanced Spatial Data Operations

● Create spatial index: CREATE INDEX idx_name ON tablename USING GIST

(spatial_column);
● Select within radius: SELECT * FROM tablename WHERE
ST_DWithin(spatial_column::geography, ST_MakePoint(lng, lat)::geography,
radius);
● Find nearest point: SELECT * FROM tablename ORDER BY spatial_column <->
ST_SetSRID(ST_MakePoint(lng, lat), 4326) LIMIT 1;

27. Advanced Full-Text Search

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 ● Full-text search with relevance: SELECT *,
ts_rank_cd(to_tsvector('english', column), to_tsquery('search_term')) AS
relevance FROM tablename WHERE to_tsvector('english', column) @@
to_tsquery('search_term');
● Boolean mode search: SELECT * FROM tablename WHERE to_tsvector('english',
column) @@ plainto_tsquery('term1 & !term2');
● Phrase search: SELECT * FROM tablename WHERE to_tsvector('english',
column) @@ phraseto_tsquery('phrase');

28. Advanced View Management

● Create a view with joins: CREATE VIEW viewname AS SELECT a.column1,

b.column2 FROM table1 a JOIN table2 b ON a.common_column =
b.common_column;
● Update a view: CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW viewname AS SELECT column1, column2
FROM tablename;
● Drop a view: DROP VIEW viewname;

29. Advanced Stored Procedures and Functions

● Create a stored procedure: CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE proc_name(param1

INT, OUT param2 VARCHAR) LANGUAGE plpgsql AS $$ BEGIN SELECT column INTO
param2 FROM tablename WHERE id = param1; END $$;
● Call a stored procedure: CALL proc_name(1, param2);
● Create a stored function: CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION func_name(param1
INT) RETURNS VARCHAR AS $$ BEGIN RETURN (SELECT column FROM tablename
WHERE id = param1); END $$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

30. Advanced Triggers

● Create a trigger for update: CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name BEFORE UPDATE ON

tablename FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE FUNCTION trigger_function();
● Create a trigger for insert: CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name BEFORE INSERT ON
tablename FOR EACH ROW EXECUTE FUNCTION trigger_function();
● Drop a trigger: DROP TRIGGER trigger_name ON tablename;

31. Advanced Replication Management

● Setup replication user: CREATE USER replicator WITH REPLICATION ENCRYPTED

PASSWORD 'password';
● Show replication status: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_replication;

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 ● Start replication: SELECT pg_start_backup('label');
● Stop replication: SELECT pg_stop_backup();

32. Advanced Event Scheduler

● Create an event: CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION event_function() RETURNS void

AS $$ BEGIN UPDATE tablename SET column = value WHERE condition; END $$
LANGUAGE plpgsql; CREATE EXTENSION pg_cron; SELECT cron.schedule('0 0 * *
*', 'CALL event_function()');
● Show events: SELECT * FROM cron.job;
● Drop an event: SELECT cron.unschedule(job_id) FROM cron.job WHERE
job_name = 'event_function';

33. Advanced Schema Management

● Copy schema: CREATE SCHEMA new_schema; ALTER SCHEMA old_schema RENAME TO

new_schema;
● Rename schema: ALTER SCHEMA old_schema RENAME TO new_schema;
● Export schema structure: pg_dump -s -U username dbname > schema.sql;

34. Advanced Audit and Logging

● Enable general query log: ALTER SYSTEM SET log_statement = 'all';

● Show slow queries: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_statements ORDER BY
total_exec_time DESC LIMIT 10;
● Enable binary logging: ALTER SYSTEM SET wal_level = 'logical';

35. Advanced Partition Management

● Reorganize partition: ALTER TABLE tablename DETACH PARTITION

partition_name;
● Merge partitions: ALTER TABLE tablename ATTACH PARTITION partition_name
FOR VALUES FROM (min_value) TO (max_value);
● Drop partition: ALTER TABLE tablename DROP PARTITION partition_name;

36. Advanced Data Masking and Anonymization

● Mask sensitive data: UPDATE tablename SET column = LEFT(column, 3) ||

'***' || RIGHT(column, 3) WHERE condition;
● Anonymize data with random values: UPDATE tablename SET column =
md5(random()::text) WHERE condition;

By: Waleed Mousa

37. Advanced Data Migration

● Migrate data between tables: INSERT INTO new_table (column1, column2)

SELECT column1, column2 FROM old_table;
● Copy data between servers: pg_dump -h source_host -U username dbname |
psql -h destination_host -U username dbname;
● Transform data during migration: INSERT INTO new_table (column1, column2)
SELECT column1, UPPER(column2) FROM old_table;

38. Advanced Security Management

● Change user host: ALTER ROLE username WITH LOGIN;

● Disable a user account: ALTER USER username NOLOGIN;
● Enable a user account: ALTER USER username LOGIN;

39. Advanced Performance Analysis

● Show buffer pool status: SELECT * FROM pg_buffercache;

● Analyze query cache: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_database WHERE datname =
'dbname';
● Analyze index usage: SELECT * FROM pg_stat_user_indexes WHERE relname =
'tablename';

40. Advanced Storage Engine Management

● Convert table storage engine: ALTER TABLE tablename SET

(storage_parameter = 'value');
● Check storage engine status: SELECT * FROM pg_statio_user_tables WHERE
relname = 'tablename';
● Enable/disable storage engine: ALTER TABLE tablename SET
(autovacuum_enabled = false);

41. Advanced Geographic Data Management

● Insert spatial data: INSERT INTO tablename (spatial_column) VALUES

(ST_GeomFromText('POINT(lng lat)', 4326));
● Query spatial data: SELECT ST_AsText(spatial_column) FROM tablename WHERE
condition;
● Spatial distance calculation: SELECT
ST_Distance_Sphere(ST_MakePoint(lng1, lat1), ST_MakePoint(lng2, lat2))
FROM tablename;

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42. Advanced JSON Operations

● Merge JSON arrays: SELECT jsonb_agg(column) FROM tablename;

● Remove JSON key: UPDATE tablename SET json_column = jsonb - 'key' WHERE
condition;
● Extract multiple JSON values: SELECT json_column->>'key1',
json_column->>'key2' FROM tablename;

By: Waleed Mousa