SELECT INTO — define a new table from the results of a query
[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ]with_query
[, ...] ] SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT [ ON (expression
[, ...] ) ] ] * |expression
[ [ AS ]output_name
] [, ...] INTO [ TEMPORARY | TEMP | UNLOGGED ] [ TABLE ]new_table
[ FROMfrom_item
[, ...] ] [ WHEREcondition
] [ GROUP BYexpression
[, ...] ] [ HAVINGcondition
[, ...] ] [ WINDOWwindow_name
AS (window_definition
) [, ...] ] [ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL | DISTINCT ]select
] [ ORDER BYexpression
[ ASC | DESC | USINGoperator
] [ NULLS { FIRST | LAST } ] [, ...] ] [ LIMIT {count
| ALL } ] [ OFFSETstart
[ ROW | ROWS ] ] [ FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } [count
] { ROW | ROWS } ONLY ] [ FOR { UPDATE | SHARE } [ OFtable_name
[, ...] ] [ NOWAIT ] [...] ]
SELECT INTO creates a new table and fills it with data computed by a query. The data is not returned to the client, as it is with a normal SELECT. The new table's columns have the names and data types associated with the output columns of the SELECT.
TEMPORARY
or TEMP
If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Refer to CREATE TABLE(7) for details.
UNLOGGED
If specified, the table is created as an unlogged table. Refer to CREATE TABLE(7) for details.
new_table
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
All other parameters are described in detail under SELECT(7).
CREATE TABLE AS(7) is functionally similar to
SELECT INTO. CREATE TABLE AS
is the recommended syntax, since this form of SELECT
INTO is not available in ECPG
or PL/pgSQL, because they interpret the
INTO
clause differently. Furthermore,
CREATE TABLE AS offers a superset of the
functionality provided by SELECT INTO.
To add OIDs to the table created by SELECT INTO,
enable the default_with_oids configuration
variable. Alternatively, CREATE TABLE AS can be
used with the WITH OIDS
clause.
Create a new table films_recent
consisting of only
recent entries from the table films
:
SELECT * INTO films_recent FROM films WHERE date_prod >= '2002-01-01';
The SQL standard uses SELECT INTO to represent selecting values into scalar variables of a host program, rather than creating a new table. This indeed is the usage found in ECPG (see Chapter 33, ECPG - Embedded SQL in C) and PL/pgSQL (see Chapter 40, PL/pgSQL - SQL Procedural Language). The PostgreSQL™ usage of SELECT INTO to represent table creation is historical. It is best to use CREATE TABLE AS for this purpose in new code.