How to run an ad-hoc script in PostgreSQL?

Question

I'm trying to run this in PostgreSQL 9.2:

RAISE NOTICE 'hello, world!';

And the server says:

Error : ERROR:  syntax error at or near "RAISE"
LINE 1: RAISE NOTICE 'hello, world!'
        ^

Why?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18828127/how-to-run-an-ad-hoc-script-in-postgresql

Answer 1

Use an anonymous code block:

DO language plpgsql $$
BEGIN
  RAISE NOTICE 'hello, world!';
END
$$;

Variables are referenced using %:

RAISE NOTICE '%', variable_name;