How to make the 'public' schema default in a Scala Play project that uses PostgreSQL? - database

Question

I am not sure if my issue connecting to the Scala Play 2.5.x Framework or to PostgreSQL so I am going to describe my setup.
I am using the Play 2.5.6 with Scala and PostgreSQL 9.5.4-2 from the BigSQL Sandboxes. I use the Play Framework default evolution package to manage the DB versions.
I created a new database in BigSQL Sandbox's PGSQL and PGSQL created a default schema called public. I use this schema for development.
I would like to create a table with the following script (1.sql in DB evolution config):
# Initialize the database
# --- !Ups
CREATE TABLE user (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
name TEXT NOT NULL,
email TEXT NOT NULL,
creation_date TIMESTAMP NOT NULL
);
# --- !Downs
DROP TABLE user;
Besides that I would like to read the table with a code like this:
val resultSet = statement.executeQuery("SELECT id, name, email FROM public.user WHERE id=" + id.toString)
I got an error if I would like to execute any of the mentioned code or even if I use the CREATE TABLE... code in pgadmin. The issue is with the user table name. If I prefix it with public (i.e. public.user) everything works fine.
My questions are:
Is it normal to prefix the table name with the schema name every time? It seems to odd to me.
How can I make the public schema a default option so I do not have to qualify the table name? (e.g. CREATE TABLE user (...); will not throw an error)
I tried the following:
I set the search_path for my user: ALTER USER my_user SET search_path to public;
I set the search_path for my database: ALTER database "my_database" SET search_path TO my_schema;
search_path correctly shows this: "$user",public
I got the following errors:
In Play: p.a.d.e.DefaultEvolutionsApi - ERROR: syntax error at or near "user"
In pgadmin:
ERROR: syntax error at or near "user"
LINE 1: CREATE TABLE user (
********** Error **********
ERROR: syntax error at or near "user"
SQL state: 42601
Character: 14

Answer 1

This has nothing to do with the default schema. user is a reserved word.
You need to use double quotes to be able to create such a table:
CREATE TABLE "user" (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
name TEXT NOT NULL,
email TEXT NOT NULL,
creation_date TIMESTAMP NOT NULL
);
But I strongly recommend not doing that. Find a different name that does not require a quoted identifier.