SELECT INTO

Defines a new table from the results of a query.

Synopsis

  1. SELECT [ALL | DISTINCT [ON ( <expression> [, ...] )]]
  2.     * | <expression> [AS <output_name>] [, ...]
  3.     INTO [TEMPORARY | TEMP] [TABLE] <new_table>
  4.     [FROM <from_item> [, ...]]
  5.     [WHERE <condition>]
  6.     [GROUP BY <expression> [, ...]]
  7.     [HAVING <condition> [, ...]]
  8.     [{UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT} [ALL] <select>]
  9.     [ORDER BY <expression> [ASC | DESC | USING <operator>] [, ...]]
  10.     [LIMIT {<count> | ALL}]
  11.     [OFFSET <start>]
  12.     [FOR {UPDATE | SHARE} [OF <table_name> [, ...]] [NOWAIT]
  13.     [...]]

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. Data is always distributed randomly.

Parameters

The majority of parameters for SELECT INTO are the same as SELECT.

TEMPORARY,
TEMP

If specified, the table is created as a temporary table.

<new_table>

The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.

Examples

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

  1. SELECT * INTO films_recent FROM films WHERE date_prod >=
  2. '2006-01-01';

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 HAWQ usage of SELECT INTO to represent table creation is historical. It is best to use CREATE TABLE AS for this purpose in new applications.

See Also

SELECT, CREATE TABLE AS