SELECT INTO
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 | UNLOGGED ] [ TABLE ] new_table
[ FROM from_item [, ...] ]
[ WHERE condition ]
[ GROUP BY expression [, ...] ]
[ HAVING condition ]
[ WINDOW window_name AS ( window_definition ) [, ...] ]
[ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL | DISTINCT ] 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. See CREATE TABLE for details.
UNLOGGED
If specified, the table is created as an unlogged table. See 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 provides a superset of the functionality offered by SELECT INTO.
Compared to CREATE TABLE AS, SELECT INTO does not allow specifying attributes such as the table access method with USING method or the table's tablespace with TABLESPACE tablespace_name. If necessary, use CREATE TABLE AS instead. Therefore, the default table access method is chosen for the new table. See default_table_access_method for details.
Examples
-- Create a new table films_recent consisting of only the most recent entries from films:
SELECT * INTO films_recent FROM films WHERE date_prod >= '2002-01-01';