How to access Postgres

1. You have been assigned 
	- a database user ID,
	- a database user password, and 
	- a database (for yourself)

   The database user ID is the same as your UNIX user ID on the 
   arabidopsis.cs.vt.edu machine.

   The database user password is *NOT* the same as your UNIX user password
   on the arabidopsis.cs.vt.edu machine. The database password is a
   eight character word. The first four characters are the same as
   the first four characters of your user ID. The second four
   characters are the last four digits of your Virginia Tech student ID.

   The database name is a six character word. The first four characters
   are the same as the first four characters of your user ID. The next
   two characters are the first two digits of your Virginia Tech student
   ID.

   For instance, if 
		your user ID is			: santaclaus
		your VT student ID is		: 123154567
   then
		your database user ID is	: santaclaus
		your database user password is	: santa4567
		your database name is		: santa12 

2. Use this information to login to the Postgres database system. First
   login to the arabidopsis.cs.vt.edu machine using your UNIX user ID
   and UNIX password.

3. From the command prompt, type:
 
	psql -U <database user ID> -d <database name>
	
   For instance,

	psql -U santaclaus -d santa12

   The system will prompt you for the password:
   
   Password:

   Type in your password, like so:
   Password:santa4567 (not echoed)
 
   You should be shown the Postgres interactive terminal, like:

   Welcome to psql, the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.

   Type:  \copyright for distribution terms
          \h for help with SQL commands
          \? for help on internal slash commands
          \g or terminate with semicolon to execute query
          \q to quit
   
   santa12=>

4. At this point you are free to type in database commands, like
   creating tables, inserting data, and performing queries.