>I don't know what I was thinking........
>
>Select * from mytable > file.txt
>
>That should work.
>
>John

http://www.ca.postgresql.org/docs/aw_pgsql_book/node135.html and /node136.html

COPY File Format

COPY...TO can export data to be loaded into other applications, and COPY...FROM 
can import data from other applications. If you are constructing a file for use 
with the COPY command or are reading a COPY file in another application, it is 
important to understand COPY's file format.

Figure  [[*]] shows the contents of the COPY file from Figure  [[*]] .  

        test=> \q
        $ cat /tmp/copytest.out
        1       23.99   fresh spring water      t
        2       55.23   bottled soda    t
         
        $ sed 's/       /<TAB>/g' /tmp/copytest.out  # the gap between /  / is a TAB
        1<TAB>23.99<TAB>fresh spring water<TAB>t
        2<TAB>55.23<TAB>bottled soda<TAB>t  

First, \q exits psql to an operating system prompt. Then, the Unix cat 20.1 command 
displays the file /tmp/copytest.out. This file contains one line for every row in 
the table. Columns in the file are separated by tabs. These tabs are called delimiters  
because they delimit (that is, separate) columns.

Tabs  are difficult to see because they look like multiple spaces. The next command 
processes the file using sed 20.2 to display tabs as <TAB>. This option clearly 
shows the tabs in the file, which differ from spaces.

The columns in Figure  [[*]] do not line up as they do in psql, because they are of 
different lengths. The value of textcol in the first line is longer than the value 
in the second line. The lack of alignment is expected because the COPY file is 
designed for easy processing, with one tab between each column. It is not designed 
for display purposes. 



Using COPY

COPY...TO allows you to copy the contents of a table to a file. The file can later 
be read using COPY...FROM.

Figure  [[*]] shows the creation of a table with columns of various types.  

        test=> CREATE TABLE copytest (
        test(>                         intcol  INTEGER,
        test(>                         numcol  NUMERIC(16,2),
        test(>                         textcol TEXT,
        test(>                         boolcol BOOLEAN
        test(> );
        CREATE
        test=> INSERT INTO copytest
        test-> VALUES (1, 23.99, 'fresh spring water', 't');
        INSERT 174656 1
        test=> INSERT INTO copytest
        test-> VALUES (2, 55.23, 'bottled soda', 't');
        INSERT 174657 1
        test=> SELECT * FROM copytest;
         intcol | numcol |      textcol       | boolcol 
        --------+--------+--------------------+---------
              1 |  23.99 | fresh spring water | t
              2 |  55.23 | bottled soda       | t
        (2 rows) 
         
        test=> COPY copytest TO '/tmp/copytest.out';
        COPY
        test=> DELETE FROM copytest;
        DELETE 2
        test=> COPY copytest FROM '/tmp/copytest.out';
        COPY
        test=> SELECT * FROM copytest;
         intcol | numcol |      textcol       | boolcol 
        --------+--------+--------------------+---------
              1 |  23.99 | fresh spring water | t
              2 |  55.23 | bottled soda       | t
        (2 rows)