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.)
