PostgreSQL 7.1.3 Documentation
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# 4. Terminology and Notation

The terms "Postgres" and "PostgreSQL" will be used interchangeably to refer to the software that accompanies this documentation.

An administrator is generally a person who is in charge of installing and running the server. A user could be anyone who is using, or wants to use, any part of the PostgreSQL system. These terms should not be interpreted too narrowly; this documentation set does not have fixed presumptions about system administration procedures.

`/usr/local/pgsql/` is generally used as the root directory of the installation and `/usr/local/pgsql/data` as the directory with the database files. These directories may vary on your site, details can be derived in the Administrator's Guide.

In a command synopsis, brackets ("`[`" and "`]`") indicate an optional phrase or keyword. Anything in braces ("`{`" and "`}`") and containing vertical bars ("`|`") indicates that you must choose one.

Examples will show commands executed from various accounts and programs. Commands executed from a Unix shell may be preceeded with a dollar sign ("`$`"). Commands executed from particular user accounts such as root or postgres are specially flagged and explained. SQL commands may be preceeded with "`=>`" or will have no leading prompt, depending on the context.

> Note: The notation for flagging commands is not universally consistant throughout the documentation set. Please report problems to the documentation mailing list `<pgsql-docs@postgresql.org>`.

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