Add Dump The SQL Needed To Recreate A Table as a Postgres TIL

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1215 TILs and counting..._
+_1216 TILs and counting..._
 
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@@ -584,6 +584,7 @@ _1215 TILs and counting..._
 - [Difference Between Explain And Explain Analyze](postgres/difference-between-explain-and-explain-analyze.md)
 - [Dump All Databases To A SQL File](postgres/dump-all-databases-to-a-sql-file.md)
 - [Dump And Restore A Database](postgres/dump-and-restore-a-database.md)
+- [Dump The SQL Needed To Recreate A Table](postgres/dump-the-sql-needed-recreate-a-table.md)
 - [Duplicate A Local Database](postgres/duplicate-a-local-database.md)
 - [Edit Existing Functions](postgres/edit-existing-functions.md)
 - [Enable Logging Of Database Activity](postgres/enable-logging-of-database-activity.md)

postgres/dump-the-sql-needed-recreate-a-table.md

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+# Dump The SQL Needed To Recreate A Table
+
+The [`pg_dump`](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-pgdump.html)
+command and its arsenal of flags can do a lot of things. This includes
+producing the set of [DDL](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/ddl.html)
+SQL commands needed to recreate a table and all of it sequences, constraints,
+and indexes.
+
+The primary flags to know about for this scenario are `-t` (which lets you
+specify a table) and `--schema-only` (which indicates that we want to exclude
+data from the data).
+
+```bash
+$ pg_dump -t 'users' --schema-only my_database > users.schema.sql
+```
+
+Run a command like to create a file `users.schema.sql` that will contain a
+series of SQL commands that will:
+
+- create the table with its columns (including defaults, `not null` constraints, etc.)
+- create and set the sequence on a serial ID column
+- add any foreign key constraints
+- create any indexes
+
+Then if you're ever wanting to recreate this table, you can hand that file
+directly to `pg_restore`. Or, since it is in SQL, you can run those commands
+manually.
+
+There are a ton of flags beyond the two covered here. Read about them in the
+[`pg_dump` docs
+pages](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-pgdump.html).