NAME
SELECT INTO - define a new table from the results of a query
SYNOPSIS
[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ]
SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT [ ON ( expression [, ...] ) ] ]
* | expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...]
INTO [ TEMPORARY | TEMP ] [ TABLE ] new_table
[ FROM from_item [, ...] ]
[ WHERE condition ]
[ GROUP BY expression [, ...] ]
[ HAVING condition [, ...] ]
[ WINDOW window_name AS ( window_definition ) [, ...] ]
[ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL ] 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 or TEMP
If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Refer
to CREATE TABLE [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 [select(7)].
NOTES
CREATE TABLE AS [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.
Prior to PostgreSQL 8.1, the table created by SELECT INTO included OIDs
by default. In PostgreSQL 8.1, this is not the case — to include OIDs
in the new table, the default_with_oids configuration variable must be
enabled. 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 in the documentation) and
PL/pgSQL (see in the documentation). 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.
SEE ALSO
CREATE TABLE AS [create_table_as(7)]