SELECT INTO

Function

SELECT INTO defines a new table based on a query result and insert data obtained by query to the new table.

Different from SELECT, data found by SELECT INTO is not returned to the client. The table columns have the same names and data types as the output columns of the SELECT.

Precautions

CREATE TABLE AS provides functions similar to SELECT INTO in functions and provides a superset of functions provided by SELECT INTO. You are advised to replace SELECT INTO with CREATE TABLE AS because SELECT INTO cannot be used in stored procedures and SELECT INTO (column) cannot receive blank rows.

Syntax

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[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ]
SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT [ ON ( expression [, ...] ) ] ]
    { * | {expression [ [ AS ] output_name ]} [, ...] }
    INTO [ UNLOGGED ] [ TABLE ] new_table
    [ FROM from_item [, ...] ]
    [ WHERE condition ]
    [ GROUP BY expression [, ...] ]
    [ HAVING condition [, ...] ]
    [ WINDOW {window_name AS ( window_definition )} [, ...] ]
    [ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT | MINUS } [ ALL | DISTINCT ] select ]
    [ ORDER BY {expression [ [ ASC | DESC | USING operator ] | nlssort_expression_clause ] [ NULLS { FIRST | LAST } ]} [, ...] ]
    [ { [ LIMIT { count | ALL } ] [ OFFSET start [ ROW | ROWS ] ] } | { LIMIT start, { count | ALL } } ]
    [ FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } [ count ] { ROW | ROWS } ONLY ]
    [ {FOR { UPDATE | SHARE } [ OF table_name [, ...] ] [ NOWAIT ]} [...] ];

Parameter Description

INTO [ UNLOGGED ] [ TABLE ] new_table

UNLOGGED indicates that the table is created as an unlogged table. Data written to unlogged tables is not written to the write-ahead log, which makes them considerably faster than ordinary tables. However, they are not crash-safe: an unlogged table is automatically truncated after a crash or unclean shutdown. The contents of an unlogged table are also not replicated to standby servers. Any indexes created on an unlogged table are automatically unlogged as well.

new_table specifies the name of the new table.

For details about other SELECT INTO parameters, see Parameter Description in SELECT.

Example

Add values whose TABLE_SK is less than 3 in the reason_t table to the new table.

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CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS reason_t
(
    TABLE_SK          INTEGER               ,
    TABLE_ID          VARCHAR(20)           ,
    TABLE_NA          VARCHAR(20)
);
INSERT INTO reason_t VALUES (1, 'S01', 'StudentA'),(2, 'T01', 'TeacherA'),(3, 'T02', 'TeacherB'),(3, 'S02', 'StudentB');

SELECT * INTO reason_t_bck FROM reason_t WHERE TABLE_SK < 3;

Helpful Links

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