| PostgreSQL 7.4 Documentation | ||||
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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 [, ...] ] ]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.
If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Refer to CREATE TABLE for details.
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
All other parameters are described in detail under SELECT.
CREATE TABLE AS is functionally equivalent 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.
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 37). 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.)