SELECT INTO

Defines a new table from the results of a query.

Synopsis

[ WITH [ RECURSIVE1 ] <with_query> [, ...] ]
SELECT [ALL | DISTINCT [ON ( <expression> [, ...] )]]
    * | <expression> [AS <output_name>] [, ...]
    INTO [TEMPORARY | TEMP] [TABLE] <new_table>
    [FROM <from_item> [, ...]]
    [WHERE <condition>]
    [GROUP BY <expression> [, ...]]
    [HAVING <condition> [, ...]]
    [{UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT} [ALL] <select>]
    [ORDER BY <expression> [ASC | DESC | USING <operator>] [NULLS {FIRST | LAST}] [, ...]]
    [LIMIT {<count> | ALL}]
    [OFFSET <start>]
    [FOR {UPDATE | SHARE} [OF <table_name> [, ...]] [NOWAIT] 
    [...]]

Description

Note: 1The RECURSIVE keyword is a Beta feature.

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.

The RECURSIVE keyword can be enabled by setting the server configuration parameter gp_recursive_cte_prototype to true.

Note: The RECURSIVE keyword is a Beta feature.

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:

SELECT * INTO films_recent FROM films WHERE date_prod >= 
'2016-01-01';

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