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 [ OF tablename [, ...] ] ]
Inputs
- TEMPORARY
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 inputs are described in detail for
SELECT.
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.
Note: CREATE TABLE AS
is functionally equivalent to SELECT INTO.
CREATE TABLE AS is the recommended syntax, since
SELECT INTO is not standard. In fact, this form of
SELECT INTO is not available in PL/pgSQL or ecpg,
because they interpret the INTO clause differently.
Compatibility
SQL92 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 PL/pgSQL and ecpg.
The PostgreSQL usage of SELECT
INTO to represent table creation is historical. It's best
to use CREATE TABLE AS for this purpose in new code.
(CREATE TABLE AS isn't standard either, but it's
less likely to cause confusion.)
