PSQL 8.3+ client query results display

Question

Rather silly question, but I can't seem to find the answer in the docs or man pages.

Starting with 8.3 I think, the psql CLI client will not display the results of a large query inline. It pipes to a 'less-like' result viewer that disappears when you hit q.

This makes it very difficult to use data from the first query in subsequent queries or updates.

Does anyone know of a switch or way to force psql to display the query results inline, like the old client did?

edit: the \x switch does this, but I need the multiple row view.

Answer 1

\pset pager off

\pset pager on

\pset pager always

Alternatively, configure the pager to your liking.

Answer 2

in addition to \pset pager always add the following in your .profile (or .bashrc)

export PAGER=less

export LESS="-iMSx4 -FX"

Answer 3

You can also disable it when you start up psql:

$ psql -U admin db_name --pset pager=off

If you always want it to be off, you can add this to your .bashrc file:

alias psql='psql --pset pager=off'