Create table script syntax error "table does not exist"

Question

This is my first time producing a script which I can run through the psql terminal using the -f option.

My script is as follows:

DROP TABLE if EXISTS piste;
DROP TABLE if EXISTS lift;
DROP TABLE if EXISTS lift_location;

CREATE TABLE piste (
    piste_name varchar(30) PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
    grade varchar(10) NOT NULL,
    length decimal NOT NULL,
    fall smallint NOT NULL,
    open boolean NOT NULL, 

);

INSERT INTO piste (name, grade, length, fall, open) VALUES
('test name', 'easy', 3.2, 400, true);

This produces the following error:

psql:create_tables.sql:22: NOTICE:  table "piste" does not exist, skipping
DROP TABLE
psql:create_tables.sql:23: NOTICE:  table "lift" does not exist, skipping
DROP TABLE
psql:create_tables.sql:24: NOTICE:  table "lift_location" does not exist, skipping
DROP TABLE
psql:create_tables.sql:33: ERROR:  syntax error at or near ")"
LINE 8: );
        ^
psql:create_tables.sql:36: ERROR:  relation "piste" does not exist
LINE 1: INSERT INTO piste (name, grade, length, fall, open) VALUES

Does anybody know what is causing this? From what I can see, the table "piste" is created before I try to insert so how can it say it does not exist?

Thanks, Chris.

Answer 1

This error:

psql:create_tables.sql:33: ERROR: syntax error at or near ")" LINE 8: );

Tells you that the table is not created.

You have a dangling comma , inside your create table (after the last column). Remove that and you should be fine.

Answer 2

The comma at the end generates the error message:

open boolean NOT NULL, 

The other messages are NOTICEs not errors. They just tell you that they didn't drop the table as they did not exist