CREATE TABLE AS

Name

CREATE TABLE AS --  Defines a new table from the results of a query

Synopsis

CREATE [[LOCAL] { TEMPORARY | TEMP } TABLE table_name [ (column [, ...] ) ]
     AS query
  

Inputs

[LOCAL] TEMPORARY or [LOCAL] TEMP

If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Temporary tables are automatically dropped at the end of a session. Existing persistent tables with the same name are not visible to the current session while the temporary table exists. Any indexes created on a temporary table are automatically temporary as well.

The LOCAL word is optional.

table_name

The name of the new table to be created. This table must not already exist. However, a temporary table can be created that has the same name as an existing permanent table.

column_name

The name of a column in the new table. Multiple column names can be specified using a comma-delimited list of column names. If column names are not provided, they are taken from the output column names of the query.

query

A query statement (that is, a SELECT command). Refer to SELECT for a description of the allowed syntax.

Outputs

Refer to CREATE TABLE and SELECT for a summary of possible output messages.

Description

CREATE TABLE AS creates a table and fills it with data computed by a SELECT command. The table columns have the names and data types associated with the output columns of the SELECT (except that you can override the SELECT column names by giving an explicit list of column names).

CREATE TABLE AS bears some resemblance to creating a view, but it is really quite different: it creates a new table and evaluates the query just once to fill the new table initially. The new table will not track subsequent changes to the source tables of the query. In contrast, a view re-evaluates the underlying SELECT statements whenever it is queried.

Notes

This command is functionally equivalent to SELECT INTO but it is preferred as it is less likely to be confused with other uses of the SELECT INTO syntax.

Use DROP TABLE to remove the table from the database.

Usage

To create a new table from the results of a SELECT statement:
create table cta1 (a int4, b int4);
insert into cta1 values (1, 11);
insert into cta1 values (2, 12);
create temp table cta4 as select * from cta1 where a > 1;

Compatibility

This command is modeled after an Oracle feature. There is no command with equivalent functionality in SQL92 or SQL99. However, a combination of CREATE TABLE and INSERT ... SELECT can accomplish the same thing with little more effort.