path: root/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_table_as.sgml

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doc/src/sgml/ref/create_table_as.sgml
PostgreSQL documentation
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<refentry id="sql-createtableas">
 <indexterm zone="sql-createtableas">
  <primary>CREATE TABLE AS</primary>
 </indexterm>

 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle>CREATE TABLE AS</refentrytitle>
  <manvolnum>7</manvolnum>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>

 <refnamediv>
  <refname>CREATE TABLE AS</refname>
  <refpurpose>define a new table from the results of a query</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
CREATE [ [ GLOBAL | LOCAL ] { TEMPORARY | TEMP } | UNLOGGED ] TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] <replaceable>table_name</replaceable>
    [ (<replaceable>column_name</replaceable> [, ...] ) ]
    [ USING <replaceable class="parameter">method</replaceable> ]
    [ WITH ( <replaceable class="parameter">storage_parameter</replaceable> [= <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable>] [, ... ] ) | WITHOUT OIDS ]
    [ ON COMMIT { PRESERVE ROWS | DELETE ROWS | DROP } ]
    [ TABLESPACE <replaceable class="parameter">tablespace_name</replaceable> ]
    AS <replaceable>query</replaceable>
    [ WITH [ NO ] DATA ]
</synopsis>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Description</title>

  <para>
   <command>CREATE TABLE AS</command> creates a table and fills it
   with data computed by a <command>SELECT</command> command.
   The table columns have the
   names and data types associated with the output columns of the
   <command>SELECT</command> (except that you can override the column
   names by giving an explicit list of new column names).
  </para>

  <para>
   <command>CREATE TABLE AS</command> bears some resemblance to
   creating a view, but it is really quite different: it creates a new
   table and evaluates the query just once to fill the new table
   initially.  The new table will not track subsequent changes to the
   source tables of the query.  In contrast, a view re-evaluates its
   defining <command>SELECT</command> statement whenever it is
   queried.
  </para>

  <para>
   <command>CREATE TABLE AS</command> requires <literal>CREATE</literal>
   privilege on the schema used for the table.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Parameters</title>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>GLOBAL</literal> or <literal>LOCAL</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Ignored for compatibility.  Use of these keywords is deprecated;
      refer to <xref linkend="sql-createtable"/> for details.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>
  </variablelist>

  <variablelist>
   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TEMPORARY</literal> or <literal>TEMP</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      If specified, the table is created as a temporary table.
      Refer to <xref linkend="sql-createtable"/> for details.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>UNLOGGED</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      If specified, the table is created as an unlogged table.
      Refer to <xref linkend="sql-createtable"/> for details.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>IF NOT EXISTS</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      Do not throw an error if a relation with the same name already
      exists; simply issue a notice and leave the table unmodified.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable>table_name</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable>column_name</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The name of a column in the new table.  If column names are not
      provided, they are taken from the output column names of the query.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>USING <replaceable class="parameter">method</replaceable></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This optional clause specifies the table access method to use to store
      the contents for the new table; the method needs be an access method of
      type <literal>TABLE</literal>. See <xref linkend="tableam"/> for more
      information.  If this option is not specified, the default table access
      method is chosen for the new table. See <xref
      linkend="guc-default-table-access-method"/> for more information.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>WITH ( <replaceable class="parameter">storage_parameter</replaceable> [= <replaceable class="parameter">value</replaceable>] [, ... ] )</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This clause specifies optional storage parameters for the new table;
      see <xref linkend="sql-createtable-storage-parameters"/> in the
      <xref linkend="sql-createtable"/> documentation for more
      information.   For backward-compatibility the <literal>WITH</literal>
      clause for a table can also include <literal>OIDS=FALSE</literal> to
      specify that rows of the new table should contain no OIDs (object
      identifiers), <literal>OIDS=TRUE</literal> is not supported anymore.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>WITHOUT OIDS</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This is backward-compatible syntax for declaring a table
      <literal>WITHOUT OIDS</literal>, creating a table <literal>WITH
      OIDS</literal> is not supported anymore.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>ON COMMIT</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The behavior of temporary tables at the end of a transaction
      block can be controlled using <literal>ON COMMIT</literal>.
      The three options are:

      <variablelist>
       <varlistentry>
        <term><literal>PRESERVE ROWS</literal></term>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          No special action is taken at the ends of transactions.
          This is the default behavior.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </varlistentry>

       <varlistentry>
        <term><literal>DELETE ROWS</literal></term>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          All rows in the temporary table will be deleted at the end
          of each transaction block.  Essentially, an automatic <link
          linkend="sql-truncate"><command>TRUNCATE</command></link> is done
          at each commit.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </varlistentry>

       <varlistentry>
        <term><literal>DROP</literal></term>
        <listitem>
         <para>
          The temporary table will be dropped at the end of the current
          transaction block.
         </para>
        </listitem>
       </varlistentry>
      </variablelist></para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>TABLESPACE <replaceable class="parameter">tablespace_name</replaceable></literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The <replaceable class="parameter">tablespace_name</replaceable> is the name
      of the tablespace in which the new table is to be created.
      If not specified,
      <xref linkend="guc-default-tablespace"/> is consulted, or
      <xref linkend="guc-temp-tablespaces"/> if the table is temporary.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><replaceable>query</replaceable></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      A <link linkend="sql-select"><command>SELECT</command></link>, <link
      linkend="sql-table"><command>TABLE</command></link>, or <link linkend="sql-values"><command>VALUES</command></link>
      command, or an <link linkend="sql-execute"><command>EXECUTE</command></link> command that runs a
      prepared <command>SELECT</command>, <command>TABLE</command>, or
      <command>VALUES</command> query.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

   <varlistentry>
    <term><literal>WITH [ NO ] DATA</literal></term>
    <listitem>
     <para>
      This clause specifies whether or not the data produced by the query
      should be copied into the new table.  If not, only the table structure
      is copied.  The default is to copy the data.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </varlistentry>

  </variablelist>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Notes</title>

  <para>
   This command is functionally similar to <xref
   linkend="sql-selectinto"/>, but it is
   preferred since it is less likely to be confused with other uses of
   the <command>SELECT INTO</command> syntax. Furthermore, <command>CREATE
   TABLE AS</command> offers a superset of the functionality offered
   by <command>SELECT INTO</command>.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Examples</title>

  <para>
   Create a new table <literal>films_recent</literal> consisting of only
   recent entries from the table <literal>films</literal>:

<programlisting>
CREATE TABLE films_recent AS
  SELECT * FROM films WHERE date_prod &gt;= '2002-01-01';
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   To copy a table completely, the short form using
   the <literal>TABLE</literal> command can also be used:

<programlisting>
CREATE TABLE films2 AS
  TABLE films;
</programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Create a new temporary table <literal>films_recent</literal>, consisting of
   only recent entries from the table <literal>films</literal>, using a
   prepared statement.  The new table will be dropped at commit:

<programlisting>
PREPARE recentfilms(date) AS
  SELECT * FROM films WHERE date_prod &gt; $1;
CREATE TEMP TABLE films_recent ON COMMIT DROP AS
  EXECUTE recentfilms('2002-01-01');
</programlisting></para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>Compatibility</title>

  <para>
   <command>CREATE TABLE AS</command> conforms to the <acronym>SQL</acronym>
   standard.  The following are nonstandard extensions:

   <itemizedlist spacing="compact">
    <listitem>
     <para>
      The standard requires parentheses around the subquery clause; in
      <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, these parentheses are
      optional.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      In the standard, the <literal>WITH [ NO ] DATA</literal> clause
      is required; in PostgreSQL it is optional.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para><productname>PostgreSQL</productname> handles temporary tables in a way
      rather different from the standard; see
      <xref linkend="sql-createtable"/>
      for details.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The <literal>WITH</literal> clause is a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>
      extension; storage parameters are not in the standard.
     </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
     <para>
      The <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> concept of tablespaces is not
      part of the standard.  Hence, the clause <literal>TABLESPACE</literal>
      is an extension.
     </para>
    </listitem>
   </itemizedlist></para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1>
  <title>See Also</title>

  <simplelist type="inline">
   <member><xref linkend="sql-creatematerializedview"/></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-createtable"/></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-execute"/></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-select"/></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-selectinto"/></member>
   <member><xref linkend="sql-values"/></member>
  </simplelist>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>