Name
SELECT INTO -- define a new table from the results of a querySynopsis
[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ] SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT [ ON ( expression [, ...] ) ] ] * | expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...] INTO [ TEMPORARY | TEMP | UNLOGGED ] [ TABLE ] new_table [ FROM from_item [, ...] ] [ WHERE condition ] [ GROUP BY expression [, ...] ] [ HAVING condition [, ...] ] [ WINDOW window_name AS ( window_definition ) [, ...] ] [ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL | DISTINCT ] select ] [ ORDER BY expression [ ASC | DESC | USING operator ] [ NULLS { FIRST | LAST } ] [, ...] ] [ LIMIT { count | ALL } ] [ OFFSET start [ ROW | ROWS ] ] [ FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } [ count ] { ROW | ROWS } ONLY ] [ FOR { UPDATE | SHARE } [ OF table_name [, ...] ] [ NOWAIT ] [...] ]
Description
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
.
Parameters
-
TEMPORARY
orTEMP
-
If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Refer to CREATE TABLE for details.
UNLOGGED
-
If specified, the table is created as an unlogged table. Refer to CREATE TABLE for details.
new_table
-
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
All other parameters are described in detail under SELECT.
Notes
CREATE TABLE AS 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.
Examples
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';
Compatibility
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 34) and PL/pgSQL (see Chapter 41). 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.
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