PostgreSQL 8.3.1 Documentation
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# CREATE TABLE

## Name

CREATE TABLE -- define a new table

## Synopsis

    CREATE [ [ GLOBAL | LOCAL ] { TEMPORARY | TEMP } ] TABLE table_name ( [
      { column_name data_type [ DEFAULT default_expr ] [ column_constraint [ ... ] ]
        | table_constraint
        | LIKE parent_table [ { INCLUDING | EXCLUDING } { DEFAULTS | CONSTRAINTS | INDEXES } ] ... }
        [, ... ]
    ] )
    [ INHERITS ( parent_table [, ... ] ) ]
    [ WITH ( storage_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) | WITH OIDS | WITHOUT OIDS ]
    [ ON COMMIT { PRESERVE ROWS | DELETE ROWS | DROP } ]
    [ TABLESPACE tablespace ]

    where column_constraint is:

    [ CONSTRAINT constraint_name ]
    { NOT NULL |
      NULL |
      UNIQUE index_parameters |
      PRIMARY KEY index_parameters |
      CHECK ( expression ) |
      REFERENCES reftable [ ( refcolumn ) ] [ MATCH FULL | MATCH PARTIAL | MATCH SIMPLE ]
        [ ON DELETE action ] [ ON UPDATE action ] }
    [ DEFERRABLE | NOT DEFERRABLE ] [ INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE ]

    and table_constraint is:

    [ CONSTRAINT constraint_name ]
    { UNIQUE ( column_name [, ... ] ) index_parameters |
      PRIMARY KEY ( column_name [, ... ] ) index_parameters |
      CHECK ( expression ) |
      FOREIGN KEY ( column_name [, ... ] ) REFERENCES reftable [ ( refcolumn [, ... ] ) ]
        [ MATCH FULL | MATCH PARTIAL | MATCH SIMPLE ] [ ON DELETE action ] [ ON UPDATE action ] }
    [ DEFERRABLE | NOT DEFERRABLE ] [ INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE ]

    index_parameters in UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY constraints are:

    [ WITH ( storage_parameter [= value] [, ... ] ) ]
    [ USING INDEX TABLESPACE tablespace ]

## Description

`CREATE TABLE` will create a new, initially empty table in the current database. The table will be owned by the user issuing the command.

If a schema name is given (for example, `CREATE TABLE myschema.mytable ...`) then the table is created in the specified schema. Otherwise it is created in the current schema. Temporary tables exist in a special schema, so a schema name cannot be given when creating a temporary table. The name of the table must be distinct from the name of any other table, sequence, index, or view in the same schema.

`CREATE TABLE` also automatically creates a data type that represents the composite type corresponding to one row of the table. Therefore, tables cannot have the same name as any existing data type in the same schema.

The optional constraint clauses specify constraints (tests) that new or updated rows must satisfy for an insert or update operation to succeed. A constraint is an SQL object that helps define the set of valid values in the table in various ways.

There are two ways to define constraints: table constraints and column constraints. A column constraint is defined as part of a column definition. A table constraint definition is not tied to a particular column, and it can encompass more than one column. Every column constraint can also be written as a table constraint; a column constraint is only a notational convenience for use when the constraint only affects one column.

## Parameters

`TEMPORARY` or `TEMP`

  If specified, the table is created as a temporary table. Temporary tables are automatically dropped at the end of a session, or optionally at the end of the current transaction (see `ON COMMIT` below). Existing permanent tables with the same name are not visible to the current session while the temporary table exists, unless they are referenced with schema-qualified names. Any indexes created on a temporary table are automatically temporary as well.

  Optionally, `GLOBAL` or `LOCAL` can be written before `TEMPORARY` or `TEMP`. This makes no difference in PostgreSQL, but see Compatibility.

`table_name`

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

`column_name`

  The name of a column to be created in the new table.

`data_type`

  The data type of the column. This can include array specifiers. For more information on the data types supported by PostgreSQL, refer to Chapter 8.

`DEFAULT `default_expr``

  The `DEFAULT` clause assigns a default data value for the column whose column definition it appears within. The value is any variable-free expression (subqueries and cross-references to other columns in the current table are not allowed). The data type of the default expression must match the data type of the column.

  The default expression will be used in any insert operation that does not specify a value for the column. If there is no default for a column, then the default is null.

`INHERITS ( `parent_table` [, ... ] )`

  The optional `INHERITS` clause specifies a list of tables from which the new table automatically inherits all columns.

  Use of `INHERITS` creates a persistent relationship between the new child table and its parent table(s). Schema modifications to the parent(s) normally propagate to children as well, and by default the data of the child table is included in scans of the parent(s).

  If the same column name exists in more than one parent table, an error is reported unless the data types of the columns match in each of the parent tables. If there is no conflict, then the duplicate columns are merged to form a single column in the new table. If the column name list of the new table contains a column name that is also inherited, the data type must likewise match the inherited column(s), and the column definitions are merged into one. However, inherited and new column declarations of the same name need not specify identical constraints: all constraints provided from any declaration are merged together and all are applied to the new table. If the new table explicitly specifies a default value for the column, this default overrides any defaults from inherited declarations of the column. Otherwise, any parents that specify default values for the column must all specify the same default, or an error will be reported.

`LIKE `parent_table` [ { INCLUDING | EXCLUDING } { DEFAULTS | CONSTRAINTS | INDEXES } ]`

  The `LIKE` clause specifies a table from which the new table automatically copies all column names, their data types, and their not-null constraints.

  Unlike `INHERITS`, the new table and original table are completely decoupled after creation is complete. Changes to the original table will not be applied to the new table, and it is not possible to include data of the new table in scans of the original table.

  Default expressions for the copied column definitions will only be copied if `INCLUDING DEFAULTS` is specified. The default behavior is to exclude default expressions, resulting in the copied columns in the new table having null defaults.

  Not-null constraints are always copied to the new table. `CHECK` constraints will only be copied if `INCLUDING CONSTRAINTS` is specified; other types of constraints will never be copied. Also, no distinction is made between column constraints and table constraints — when constraints are requested, all check constraints are copied.

  Any indexes on the original table will not be created on the new table, unless the `INCLUDING INDEXES` clause is specified.

  Note also that unlike `INHERITS`, copied columns and constraints are not merged with similarly named columns and constraints. If the same name is specified explicitly or in another `LIKE` clause, an error is signalled.

`CONSTRAINT `constraint_name``

  An optional name for a column or table constraint. If the constraint is violated, the constraint name is present in error messages, so constraint names like `col must be positive` can be used to communicate helpful constraint information to client applications. (Double-quotes are needed to specify constraint names that contain spaces.) If a constraint name is not specified, the system generates a name.

`NOT NULL`

  The column is not allowed to contain null values.

`NULL`

  The column is allowed to contain null values. This is the default.

  This clause is only provided for compatibility with non-standard SQL databases. Its use is discouraged in new applications.

`UNIQUE` (column constraint)
`UNIQUE ( `column_name` [, ... ] )` (table constraint)

  The `UNIQUE` constraint specifies that a group of one or more columns of a table can contain only unique values. The behavior of the unique table constraint is the same as that for column constraints, with the additional capability to span multiple columns.

  For the purpose of a unique constraint, null values are not considered equal.

  Each unique table constraint must name a set of columns that is different from the set of columns named by any other unique or primary key constraint defined for the table. (Otherwise it would just be the same constraint listed twice.)

`PRIMARY KEY` (column constraint)
`PRIMARY KEY ( `column_name` [, ... ] )` (table constraint)

  The primary key constraint specifies that a column or columns of a table can contain only unique (non-duplicate), nonnull values. Technically, `PRIMARY KEY` is merely a combination of `UNIQUE` and `NOT NULL`, but identifying a set of columns as primary key also provides metadata about the design of the schema, as a primary key implies that other tables can rely on this set of columns as a unique identifier for rows.

  Only one primary key can be specified for a table, whether as a column constraint or a table constraint.

  The primary key constraint should name a set of columns that is different from other sets of columns named by any unique constraint defined for the same table.

`CHECK ( `expression` )`

  The `CHECK` clause specifies an expression producing a Boolean result which new or updated rows must satisfy for an insert or update operation to succeed. Expressions evaluating to TRUE or UNKNOWN succeed. Should any row of an insert or update operation produce a FALSE result an error exception is raised and the insert or update does not alter the database. A check constraint specified as a column constraint should reference that column's value only, while an expression appearing in a table constraint can reference multiple columns.

  Currently, `CHECK` expressions cannot contain subqueries nor refer to variables other than columns of the current row.

`REFERENCES `reftable` [ ( `refcolumn` ) ] [ MATCH `matchtype` ] [ ON DELETE `action` ] [ ON UPDATE `action` ]` (column constraint)
`FOREIGN KEY ( `column` [, ... ] ) REFERENCES `reftable` [ ( `refcolumn` [, ... ] ) ] [ MATCH `matchtype` ] [ ON DELETE `action` ] [ ON UPDATE `action` ]` (table constraint)

  These clauses specify a foreign key constraint, which requires that a group of one or more columns of the new table must only contain values that match values in the referenced column(s) of some row of the referenced table. If `refcolumn` is omitted, the primary key of the `reftable` is used. The referenced columns must be the columns of a unique or primary key constraint in the referenced table. Note that foreign key constraints cannot be defined between temporary tables and permanent tables.

  A value inserted into the referencing column(s) is matched against the values of the referenced table and referenced columns using the given match type. There are three match types: `MATCH FULL`, `MATCH PARTIAL`, and `MATCH SIMPLE`, which is also the default. `MATCH FULL` will not allow one column of a multicolumn foreign key to be null unless all foreign key columns are null. `MATCH SIMPLE` allows some foreign key columns to be null while other parts of the foreign key are not null. `MATCH PARTIAL` is not yet implemented.

  In addition, when the data in the referenced columns is changed, certain actions are performed on the data in this table's columns. The `ON DELETE` clause specifies the action to perform when a referenced row in the referenced table is being deleted. Likewise, the `ON UPDATE` clause specifies the action to perform when a referenced column in the referenced table is being updated to a new value. If the row is updated, but the referenced column is not actually changed, no action is done. Referential actions other than the `NO ACTION` check cannot be deferred, even if the constraint is declared deferrable. There are the following possible actions for each clause:

  `NO ACTION`

    Produce an error indicating that the deletion or update would create a foreign key constraint violation. If the constraint is deferred, this error will be produced at constraint check time if there still exist any referencing rows. This is the default action.

  `RESTRICT`

    Produce an error indicating that the deletion or update would create a foreign key constraint violation. This is the same as `NO ACTION` except that the check is not deferrable.

  `CASCADE`

    Delete any rows referencing the deleted row, or update the value of the referencing column to the new value of the referenced column, respectively.

  `SET NULL`

    Set the referencing column(s) to null.

  `SET DEFAULT`

    Set the referencing column(s) to their default values.

  If the referenced column(s) are changed frequently, it might be wise to add an index to the foreign key column so that referential actions associated with the foreign key column can be performed more efficiently.

`DEFERRABLE`
`NOT DEFERRABLE`

  This controls whether the constraint can be deferred. A constraint that is not deferrable will be checked immediately after every command. Checking of constraints that are deferrable can be postponed until the end of the transaction (using the SET CONSTRAINTS command). `NOT DEFERRABLE` is the default. Only foreign key constraints currently accept this clause. All other constraint types are not deferrable.

`INITIALLY IMMEDIATE`
`INITIALLY DEFERRED`

  If a constraint is deferrable, this clause specifies the default time to check the constraint. If the constraint is `INITIALLY IMMEDIATE`, it is checked after each statement. This is the default. If the constraint is `INITIALLY DEFERRED`, it is checked only at the end of the transaction. The constraint check time can be altered with the SET CONSTRAINTS command.

`WITH ( `storage_parameter` [= `value`] [, ... ] )`

  This clause specifies optional storage parameters for a table or index; see Storage Parameters for more information. The `WITH` clause for a table can also include `OIDS=TRUE` (or just `OIDS`) to specify that rows of the new table should have OIDs (object identifiers) assigned to them, or `OIDS=FALSE` to specify that the rows should not have OIDs. If `OIDS` is not specified, the default setting depends upon the default_with_oids configuration parameter. (If the new table inherits from any tables that have OIDs, then `OIDS=TRUE` is forced even if the command says `OIDS=FALSE`.)

  If `OIDS=FALSE` is specified or implied, the new table does not store OIDs and no OID will be assigned for a row inserted into it. This is generally considered worthwhile, since it will reduce OID consumption and thereby postpone the wraparound of the 32-bit OID counter. Once the counter wraps around, OIDs can no longer be assumed to be unique, which makes them considerably less useful. In addition, excluding OIDs from a table reduces the space required to store the table on disk by 4 bytes per row (on most machines), slightly improving performance.

  To remove OIDs from a table after it has been created, use ALTER TABLE.

`WITH OIDS`
`WITHOUT OIDS`

  These are obsolescent syntaxes equivalent to `WITH (OIDS)` and `WITH (OIDS=FALSE)`, respectively. If you wish to give both an `OIDS` setting and storage parameters, you must use the `WITH ( ... )` syntax; see above.

`ON COMMIT`

  The behavior of temporary tables at the end of a transaction block can be controlled using `ON COMMIT`. The three options are:

  `PRESERVE ROWS`

    No special action is taken at the ends of transactions. This is the default behavior.

  `DELETE ROWS`

    All rows in the temporary table will be deleted at the end of each transaction block. Essentially, an automatic TRUNCATE is done at each commit.

  `DROP`

    The temporary table will be dropped at the end of the current transaction block.

`TABLESPACE `tablespace``

  The `tablespace` is the name of the tablespace in which the new table is to be created. If not specified, default_tablespace is consulted, or temp_tablespaces if the table is temporary.

`USING INDEX TABLESPACE `tablespace``

  This clause allows selection of the tablespace in which the index associated with a `UNIQUE` or `PRIMARY KEY` constraint will be created. If not specified, default_tablespace is consulted, or temp_tablespaces if the table is temporary.

### Storage Parameters

The `WITH` clause can specify storage parameters for tables, and for indexes associated with a `UNIQUE` or `PRIMARY KEY` constraint. Storage parameters for indexes are documented in CREATE INDEX. The only storage parameter currently available for tables is:

`FILLFACTOR`

  The fillfactor for a table is a percentage between 10 and 100. 100 (complete packing) is the default. When a smaller fillfactor is specified, `INSERT` operations pack table pages only to the indicated percentage; the remaining space on each page is reserved for updating rows on that page. This gives `UPDATE` a chance to place the updated copy of a row on the same page as the original, which is more efficient than placing it on a different page. For a table whose entries are never updated, complete packing is the best choice, but in heavily updated tables smaller fillfactors are appropriate.

## Notes

Using OIDs in new applications is not recommended: where possible, using a `SERIAL` or other sequence generator as the table's primary key is preferred. However, if your application does make use of OIDs to identify specific rows of a table, it is recommended to create a unique constraint on the `oid` column of that table, to ensure that OIDs in the table will indeed uniquely identify rows even after counter wraparound. Avoid assuming that OIDs are unique across tables; if you need a database-wide unique identifier, use the combination of `tableoid` and row OID for the purpose.

> Tip: The use of `OIDS=FALSE` is not recommended for tables with no primary key, since without either an OID or a unique data key, it is difficult to identify specific rows.

PostgreSQL automatically creates an index for each unique constraint and primary key constraint to enforce uniqueness. Thus, it is not necessary to create an index explicitly for primary key columns. (See CREATE INDEX for more information.)

Unique constraints and primary keys are not inherited in the current implementation. This makes the combination of inheritance and unique constraints rather dysfunctional.

A table cannot have more than 1600 columns. (In practice, the effective limit is usually lower because of tuple-length constraints.)

## Examples

Create table `films` and table `distributors`:

    CREATE TABLE films (
        code        char(5) CONSTRAINT firstkey PRIMARY KEY,
        title       varchar(40) NOT NULL,
        did         integer NOT NULL,
        date_prod   date,
        kind        varchar(10),
        len         interval hour to minute
    );

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
         did    integer PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT nextval('serial'),
         name   varchar(40) NOT NULL CHECK (name <> '')
    );

Create a table with a 2-dimensional array:

    CREATE TABLE array_int (
        vector  int[][]
    );

Define a unique table constraint for the table `films`. Unique table constraints can be defined on one or more columns of the table:

    CREATE TABLE films (
        code        char(5),
        title       varchar(40),
        did         integer,
        date_prod   date,
        kind        varchar(10),
        len         interval hour to minute,
        CONSTRAINT production UNIQUE(date_prod)
    );

Define a check column constraint:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer CHECK (did > 100),
        name    varchar(40)
    );

Define a check table constraint:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer,
        name    varchar(40)
        CONSTRAINT con1 CHECK (did > 100 AND name <> '')
    );

Define a primary key table constraint for the table `films`:

    CREATE TABLE films (
        code        char(5),
        title       varchar(40),
        did         integer,
        date_prod   date,
        kind        varchar(10),
        len         interval hour to minute,
        CONSTRAINT code_title PRIMARY KEY(code,title)
    );

Define a primary key constraint for table `distributors`. The following two examples are equivalent, the first using the table constraint syntax, the second the column constraint syntax:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer,
        name    varchar(40),
        PRIMARY KEY(did)
    );

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer PRIMARY KEY,
        name    varchar(40)
    );

Assign a literal constant default value for the column `name`, arrange for the default value of column `did` to be generated by selecting the next value of a sequence object, and make the default value of `modtime` be the time at which the row is inserted:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        name      varchar(40) DEFAULT 'Luso Films',
        did       integer DEFAULT nextval('distributors_serial'),
        modtime   timestamp DEFAULT current_timestamp
    );

Define two `NOT NULL` column constraints on the table `distributors`, one of which is explicitly given a name:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer CONSTRAINT no_null NOT NULL,
        name    varchar(40) NOT NULL
    );

Define a unique constraint for the `name` column:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer,
        name    varchar(40) UNIQUE
    );

The same, specified as a table constraint:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer,
        name    varchar(40),
        UNIQUE(name)
    );

Create the same table, specifying 70% fill factor for both the table and its unique index:

    CREATE TABLE distributors (
        did     integer,
        name    varchar(40),
        UNIQUE(name) WITH (fillfactor=70)
    )
    WITH (fillfactor=70);

Create table `cinemas` in tablespace `diskvol1`:

    CREATE TABLE cinemas (
            id serial,
            name text,
            location text
    ) TABLESPACE diskvol1;

## Compatibility

The `CREATE TABLE` command conforms to the SQL standard, with exceptions listed below.

### Temporary Tables

Although the syntax of `CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE` resembles that of the SQL standard, the effect is not the same. In the standard, temporary tables are defined just once and automatically exist (starting with empty contents) in every session that needs them. PostgreSQL instead requires each session to issue its own `CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE` command for each temporary table to be used. This allows different sessions to use the same temporary table name for different purposes, whereas the standard's approach constrains all instances of a given temporary table name to have the same table structure.

The standard's definition of the behavior of temporary tables is widely ignored. PostgreSQL's behavior on this point is similar to that of several other SQL databases.

The standard's distinction between global and local temporary tables is not in PostgreSQL, since that distinction depends on the concept of modules, which PostgreSQL does not have. For compatibility's sake, PostgreSQL will accept the `GLOBAL` and `LOCAL` keywords in a temporary table declaration, but they have no effect.

The `ON COMMIT` clause for temporary tables also resembles the SQL standard, but has some differences. If the `ON COMMIT` clause is omitted, SQL specifies that the default behavior is `ON COMMIT DELETE ROWS`. However, the default behavior in PostgreSQL is `ON COMMIT PRESERVE ROWS`. The `ON COMMIT DROP` option does not exist in SQL.

### Column Check Constraints

The SQL standard says that `CHECK` column constraints can only refer to the column they apply to; only `CHECK` table constraints can refer to multiple columns. PostgreSQL does not enforce this restriction; it treats column and table check constraints alike.

### `NULL` "Constraint"

The `NULL` "constraint" (actually a non-constraint) is a PostgreSQL extension to the SQL standard that is included for compatibility with some other database systems (and for symmetry with the `NOT NULL` constraint). Since it is the default for any column, its presence is simply noise.

### Inheritance

Multiple inheritance via the `INHERITS` clause is a PostgreSQL language extension. SQL:1999 and later define single inheritance using a different syntax and different semantics. SQL:1999-style inheritance is not yet supported by PostgreSQL.

### Zero-column tables

PostgreSQL allows a table of no columns to be created (for example, `CREATE TABLE foo();`). This is an extension from the SQL standard, which does not allow zero-column tables. Zero-column tables are not in themselves very useful, but disallowing them creates odd special cases for `ALTER TABLE DROP COLUMN`, so it seems cleaner to ignore this spec restriction.

### `WITH` clause

The `WITH` clause is a PostgreSQL extension; neither storage parameters nor OIDs are in the standard.

### Tablespaces

The PostgreSQL concept of tablespaces is not part of the standard. Hence, the clauses `TABLESPACE` and `USING INDEX TABLESPACE` are extensions.

## See Also

ALTER TABLE, DROP TABLE, CREATE TABLESPACE

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