SELECT INTO
Defines 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
TEMP
If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Refer to CREATE TABLE for details.
UNLOGGED
If specified, the table is created as an unlogged table. Refer to CREATE TABLE for details.
new_table
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
All other parameters for SELECT INTO are described in detail on the SELECT reference page.
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. Also, CREATE TABLE AS offers a superset of the functionality provided by SELECT INTO.
In contrast to CREATE TABLE AS, SELECT INTO does not allow specifying properties like a table's access method with USING <method> or the table's tablespace with TABLESPACE <tablespace_name>. Use CREATE TABLE AS if necessary. Therefore, the default table access method is chosen for the new table.
Examples
Create a new table films_recent consisting only of recent entries from the table films:
SELECT * INTO films_recent FROM films WHERE date_prod >= '2016-01-01';
Compatibility
The SQL standard uses SELECT INTO to represent selecting values into scalar variables of a host program, rather than creating a new table. The Apache Cloudberry usage of SELECT INTO to represent table creation is historical. It is best to use CREATE TABLE AS for this purpose in new applications.
