SELECT INTO
Name
SELECT INTO -- define a new table from the results of a query
Synopsis
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 [, ...] ]
[ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL ] select ]
[ ORDER BY expression [ ASC | DESC | USING operator ] [, ...] ]
[ LIMIT { count | ALL } ]
[ OFFSET start ]
[ 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 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.
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 Chapter 30) and
PL/pgSQL (see Chapter 36).
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.
