SELECT INTO
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## 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. 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 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` 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. See default_table_access_method for more information.

## Examples

Create a new table `films_recent` consisting of only recent entries from the table `films`:

    SELECT * INTO films_recent FROM films WHERE date_prod >= '2002-01-01';

## Compatibility

The SQL standard uses `SELECT INTO` to represent selecting values into scalar variables of a host program, rather than creating a new table. This indeed is the usage found in ECPG (see Chapter 36) and PL/pgSQL (see Chapter 43). The PostgreSQL usage of `SELECT INTO` to represent table creation is historical. Some other SQL implementations also use `SELECT INTO` in this way (but most SQL implementations support `CREATE TABLE AS` instead). Apart from such compatibility considerations, it is best to use `CREATE TABLE AS` for this purpose in new code.

## See Also

CREATE TABLE AS

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