import .sql file in postgres using \i command from java

Question

I am trying to import database from .sql file in postgres using "\\i E:/dump.sql" command , its working fine from postgres command prompt but when i try the same from java it raise an error at "\\" , my code is

connection = DriverManager.getConnection( "jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/database","postgres", "passwd");
PreparedStatement ps3 = connection.prepareStatement("\\i E:/dump.sql");
boolean res3= ps3.execute();
System.out.println("imported succesfully .."+res3);

Answer 1

With the JDBC driver/interface you can only talk SQL, what you're trying is to issue PostgreSQL commandline tool ( psql ) specific commands. That won't work.

If you insist on doing this, you could use the Runtime.getRuntime().exec(...) approach, something like

Runtime.getRuntime().exec( "psql -f dump.sql" );

Cheers,

Answer 2

Long story short - you can't. \\i is not PostgreSQL command (as in: PostgreSQL database engine). It's command of psql - which is command line tool for interacting with database.

If you're connecting to database via JDBC you're not using psql, so you can't use its commands ( \\i , \\o and alike).