-su: syntax error near unexpected token '('

Question

I'm getting the error:

-su: syntax error near unexpected token '(`

This is when I run the script in shell:

psql -c CREATE TABLE test1 (device SERIAL)

If however I am already in postgres and I run the command below to create a table it works,

CREATE TABLE test (device SERIAL)

Does anyone know how I can fix the problem? Thank you

`psql -c 'CREATE TABLE test1 (device SERIAL)'` ? – KamilCuk Jun 29 '18 at 12:41 — KamilCuk, Jun 29 '18 at 12:41

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 29 '18 at 12:47

1

Try to quote the command you want to execute.

psql -c "CREATE TABLE test1 (device SERIAL)"

or

psql -c 'CREATE TABLE test1 (device SERIAL)'

Otherwise Shell parses the command differently and tries to use every space separated token as another argument:

psql -c CREATE ...Gibberish other arguments psql does not understand...

answered Jun 29 '18 at 12:47

SeleDry

Thanks, that works, what happens if I want to create multiple tables so one table as test1 and another as test2. Am I able to put a variable in there like test$i so I can do it in a for loop? – Mark Jun 29 '18 at 13:02
@Mark Yes, but then you need double quotes, see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6697753/difference-between-single-and-double-quotes-in-bash – Benjamin W. Jun 29 '18 at 13:21
You can create multiple tables this way, just use standard sql syntax separating commands with a semicolon `;` – SeleDry Jun 29 '18 at 13:21

1 Answers1