CREATE TABLE AS -- create a new table from the results of a query
Synopsis
CREATE [ [ GLOBAL | LOCAL ] { TEMPORARY | TEMP } ] TABLE table_name [ (column_name [, ...] ) ] AS query
Description
CREATE TABLE AS creates a table and fills it with data computed by a SELECT command or an EXECUTE that runs a prepared 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 column names by giving an explicit list of new 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 its defining SELECT statement whenever it is queried.
Parameters
TEMPORARY or TEMP
If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Refer to CREATE TABLE for details.
table_name
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
column_name
The name of a column in the new table. If column names are not provided, they are taken from the output column names of the query. If the table is created out of an EXECUTE command, a column name list can currently not be specified.
query
A query statement (that is, a SELECT command or an EXECUTE command that runs a prepared SELECT command). Refer to SELECT or EXECUTE, respectively, for a description of the allowed syntax.
Notes
This command is functionally equivalent to SELECT INTO, but it is preferred since it is less likely to be confused with other uses of the SELECT ... INTO syntax.
Compatibility
This command is modeled after an Oracle feature. There is no command with equivalent functionality in the SQL standard. However, a combination of CREATE TABLE and INSERT ... SELECT can accomplish the same thing with little more effort.
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