Re: BUG #12721: psql -a does not preserve empty lines between SELECTs

hans@matfyz.cz writes:
> There is, in the [doc] that psql with option -a echoes all input lines.

Hm.  That's poorly phrased: what it actually echoes is commands, not
lines.  This must be so because some of the other possible settings of
ECHO require decisions at the per-command level.  I will see about
improving the wording here.

> The empty line has disappeared. If there had been a comment line, it would
> have been preserved. Preserve also empty lines, please.

Sorry, that's not going to happen.  psql has always stripped whitespace
appearing before a command, and changing that would create a lot of
unhappiness in a lot of other behaviors.

> PS: Please, is there a better way how to specify tab as delimiter?

Maybe put \pset fieldsep '\t' in the input .sql file, instead of setting
it up on the command line.

            regards, tom lane