CREATE TABLE SQL - Language Statements CREATE TABLE Creates a new table 2000-03-25 CREATE [ TEMPORARY | TEMP ] TABLE table ( column type [ NULL | NOT NULL ] [ UNIQUE ] [ DEFAULT value ] [column_constraint_clause | PRIMARY KEY } [ ... ] ] [, ... ] [, PRIMARY KEY ( column [, ...] ) ] [, CHECK ( condition ) ] [, table_constraint_clause ] ) [ UNDER inherited_table [, ...] ] TEMPORARY The table is created only for this session, and is automatically dropped on session exit. Existing permanent tables with the same name are not visible while the temporary table exists. table The name of a new class or table to be created. column The name of a column. type The type of the column. This may include array specifiers. Refer to the PostgreSQL User's Guide for further information about data types and arrays. DEFAULT value A default value for a column. See the DEFAULT clause for more information. column_constraint_clause The optional column constraint clauses specify a list of integrity constraints or tests which new or updated entries must satisfy for an insert or update operation to succeed. Each constraint must evaluate to a boolean expression. Although SQL92 requires the column_constraint_clause to refer to that column only, Postgres allows multiple columns to be referenced within a single column constraint. See the column constraint clause for more information. table_constraint_clause The optional table CONSTRAINT clause specifies a list of integrity constraints which new or updated entries must satisfy for an insert or update operation to succeed. Each constraint must evaluate to a boolean expression. Multiple columns may be referenced within a single constraint. Only one PRIMARY KEY clause may be specified for a table; PRIMARY KEY column (a table constraint) and PRIMARY KEY (a column constraint) are mutually exclusive. See the table constraint clause for more information. UNDER inherited_table The optional UNDER clause specifies a collection of table names from which this table automatically inherits all fields. If any inherited field name appears more than once, Postgres reports an error. Postgres automatically allows the created table to inherit functions on tables above it in the inheritance hierarchy. CREATE Message returned if table is successfully created. ERROR Message returned if table creation failed. This is usually accompanied by some descriptive text, such as: ERROR: Relation 'table' already exists , which occurs at runtime if the table specified already exists in the database. ERROR: DEFAULT: type mismatched If data type of default value doesn't match the column definition's data type. CREATE TABLE will enter a new class or table into the current data base. The table will be "owned" by the user issuing the command. Each type may be a simple type, a complex type (set) or an array type. Each attribute may be specified to be non-null and each may have a default value, specified by the . Consistent array dimensions within an attribute are not enforced. This will likely change in a future release. The optional UNDER clause specifies a collection of class names from which this class automatically inherits all fields. If any inherited field name appears more than once, Postgres reports an error. Postgres automatically allows the created class to inherit functions on classes above it in the inheritance hierarchy. Inheritance of functions is done according to the conventions of the Common Lisp Object System (CLOS). Each new table or class table is automatically created as a type. Therefore, one or more instances from the class are automatically a type and can be used in or other CREATE TABLE statements. The new table is created as a heap with no initial data. A table can have no more than 1600 columns (in practice, the effective limit is lower because of tuple-length constraints). A table cannot have the same name as a system catalog table. DEFAULT value value The possible values for the default value expression are: a literal value a user function a niladic function None. The DEFAULT clause assigns a default data value to a column (via a column definition in the CREATE TABLE statement). The data type of a default value must match the column definition's data type. An INSERT operation that includes a column without a specified default value will assign the NULL value to the column if no explicit data value is provided for it. Default literal means that the default is the specified constant value. Default niladic-function or user-function means that the default is the value of the specified function at the time of the INSERT. There are two types of niladic functions: niladic USER CURRENT_USER / USER See CURRENT_USER function SESSION_USER See CURRENT_USER function SYSTEM_USER Not implemented niladic datetime CURRENT_DATE See CURRENT_DATE function CURRENT_TIME See CURRENT_TIME function CURRENT_TIMESTAMP See CURRENT_TIMESTAMP function To assign a constant value as the default for the columns did and number, and a string literal to the column did: CREATE TABLE video_sales ( did VARCHAR(40) DEFAULT 'luso films', number INTEGER DEFAULT 0, total CASH DEFAULT '$0.0' ); To assign an existing sequence as the default for the column did, and a literal to the column name: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3) DEFAULT NEXTVAL('serial'), name VARCHAR(40) DEFAULT 'luso films' ); [ CONSTRAINT name ] { [ NULL | NOT NULL ] | UNIQUE | PRIMARY KEY | CHECK constraint | REFERENCES reftable (refcolumn) [ MATCH matchtype ] [ ON DELETE action ] [ ON UPDATE action ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] [ INITIALLY checktime ] } [, ...] name An arbitrary name given to the integrity constraint. If name is not specified, it is generated from the table and column names, which should ensure uniqueness for name. NULL The column is allowed to contain NULL values. This is the default. NOT NULL The column is not allowed to contain NULL values. This is equivalent to the column constraint CHECK (column NOT NULL). UNIQUE The column must have unique values. In Postgres this is enforced by an implicit creation of a unique index on the table. PRIMARY KEY This column is a primary key, which implies that uniqueness is enforced by the system and that other tables may rely on this column as a unique identifier for rows. See PRIMARY KEY for more information. constraint The definition of the constraint. The optional constraint clauses specify constraints or tests which new or updated entries must satisfy for an insert or update operation to succeed. Each constraint must evaluate to a boolean expression. Multiple attributes may be referenced within a single constraint. The use of PRIMARY KEY as a table constraint is mutually incompatible with PRIMARY KEY as a column constraint. A constraint is a named rule: an SQL object which helps define valid sets of values by putting limits on the results of INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE operations performed on a Base Table. There are two ways to define integrity constraints: table constraints, covered later, and column constraints, covered here. A column constraint is an integrity constraint defined as part of a column definition, and logically becomes a table constraint as soon as it is created. The column constraints available are: PRIMARY KEY REFERENCES UNIQUE CHECK NOT NULL [ CONSTRAINT name ] NOT NULL The NOT NULL constraint specifies a rule that a column may contain only non-null values. This is a column constraint only, and not allowed as a table constraint. status ERROR: ExecAppend: Fail to add null value in not null attribute "column". This error occurs at runtime if one tries to insert a null value into a column which has a NOT NULL constraint. Define two NOT NULL column constraints on the table distributors, one of which being a named constraint: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3) CONSTRAINT no_null NOT NULL, name VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL ); [ CONSTRAINT name ] UNIQUE CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary label given to a constraint. status ERROR: Cannot insert a duplicate key into a unique index. This error occurs at runtime if one tries to insert a duplicate value into a column. The UNIQUE constraint specifies a rule that a group of one or more distinct columns of a table may contain only unique values. The column definitions of the specified columns do not have to include a NOT NULL constraint to be included in a UNIQUE constraint. Having more than one null value in a column without a NOT NULL constraint, does not violate a UNIQUE constraint. (This deviates from the SQL92 definition, but is a more sensible convention. See the section on compatibility for more details.) Each UNIQUE column constraint must name a column that is different from the set of columns named by any other UNIQUE or PRIMARY KEY constraint defined for the table. Postgres automatically creates a unique index for each UNIQUE constraint, to assure data integrity. See CREATE INDEX for more information. Defines a UNIQUE column constraint for the table distributors. UNIQUE column constraints can only be defined on one column of the table: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3), name VARCHAR(40) UNIQUE ); which is equivalent to the following specified as a table constraint: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3), name VARCHAR(40), UNIQUE(name) ); [ CONSTRAINT name ] CHECK ( condition [, ...] ) name An arbitrary name given to a constraint. condition Any valid conditional expression evaluating to a boolean result. status ERROR: ExecAppend: rejected due to CHECK constraint "table_column". This error occurs at runtime if one tries to insert an illegal value into a column subject to a CHECK constraint. The CHECK constraint specifies a restriction on allowed values within a column. The CHECK constraint is also allowed as a table constraint. The SQL92 CHECK column constraints can only be defined on, and refer to, one column of the table. Postgres does not have this restriction. [ CONSTRAINT name ] PRIMARY KEY CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary name for the constraint. ERROR: Cannot insert a duplicate key into a unique index. This occurs at runtime if one tries to insert a duplicate value into a column subject to a PRIMARY KEY constraint. The PRIMARY KEY column constraint specifies that a column of a table may contain only unique (non-duplicate), non-NULL values. The definition of the specified column does not have to include an explicit NOT NULL constraint to be included in a PRIMARY KEY constraint. Only one PRIMARY KEY can be specified for a table. Postgres automatically creates a unique index to assure data integrity (see CREATE INDEX statement). 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, since it will result in duplication of equivalent indexes and unproductive additional runtime overhead. However, Postgres does not specifically disallow this. 2000-02-04 [ CONSTRAINT name ] REFERENCES reftable [ ( refcolumn ) ] [ MATCH matchtype ] [ ON DELETE action ] [ ON UPDATE action ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] [ INITIALLY checktime ] The REFERENCES constraint specifies a rule that a column value is checked against the values of another column. REFERENCES can also be specified as part of a FOREIGN KEY table constraint. CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary name for the constraint. reftable The table that contains the data to check against. refcolumn The column in reftable to check the data against. If this is not specified, the PRIMARY KEY of the reftable is used. MATCH matchtype There are three match types: MATCH FULL, MATCH PARTIAL, and a default match type if none is specified. MATCH FULL will not allow one column of a multi-column foreign key to be NULL unless all foreign key columns are NULL. The default MATCH type allows a some foreign key columns to be NULL while other parts of the foreign key are not NULL. MATCH PARTIAL is currently not supported. ON DELETE action The action to do when a referenced row in the referenced table is being deleted. There are the following actions. NO ACTION Produce error if foreign key violated. This is the default. RESTRICT Same as NO ACTION. CASCADE Delete any rows referencing the deleted row. SET NULL Set the referencing column values to NULL. SET DEFAULT Set the referencing column values to their default value. ON UPDATE action The action to do 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 changed, no action is done. There are the following actions. NO ACTION Produce error if foreign key violated. This is the default. RESTRICT Same as NO ACTION. CASCADE Update the value of the referencing column to the new value of the referenced column. SET NULL Set the referencing column values to NULL. SET DEFAULT Set the referencing column values to their default value. [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE This controls whether the constraint can be deferred to the end of the transaction. If DEFERRABLE, SET CONSTRAINTS ALL DEFERRED will cause the foreign key to be checked only at the end of the transaction. NOT DEFERRABLE is the default. INITIALLY checktime checktime has two possible values which specify the default time to check the constraint. DEFERRED Check constraint only at the end of the transaction. IMMEDIATE Check constraint after each statement. This is the default. 2000-02-04 status ERROR: name referential integrity violation - key referenced from table not found in reftable This error occurs at runtime if one tries to insert a value into a column which does not have a matching column in the referenced table. The REFERENCES column constraint specifies that a column of a table must only contain values which match against values in a referenced column of a referenced table. A value added to this column is matched against the values of the referenced table and referenced column using the given match type. In addition, when the referenced column data is changed, actions are run upon this column's matching data. 1998-09-11 Currently Postgres only supports MATCH FULL and a default match type. In addition, the referenced columns are supposed to be the columns of a UNIQUE constraint in the referenced table, however Postgres does not enforce this. [ CONSTRAINT name ] { PRIMARY KEY | UNIQUE } ( column [, ...] ) [ CONSTRAINT name ] CHECK ( constraint ) [ CONSTRAINT name ] FOREIGN KEY ( column [, ...] ) REFERENCES reftable (refcolumn [, ...] ) [ MATCH matchtype ] [ ON DELETE action ] [ ON UPDATE action ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] [ INITIALLY checktime ] CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary name given to an integrity constraint. column [, ...] The column name(s) for which to define a unique index and, for PRIMARY KEY, a NOT NULL constraint. CHECK ( constraint ) A boolean expression to be evaluated as the constraint. The possible outputs for the table constraint clause are the same as for the corresponding portions of the column constraint clause. A table constraint is an integrity constraint defined on one or more columns of a base table. The four variations of "Table Constraint" are: UNIQUE CHECK PRIMARY KEY FOREIGN KEY [ CONSTRAINT name ] UNIQUE ( column [, ...] ) CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary name given to a constraint. column A name of a column in a table. status ERROR: Cannot insert a duplicate key into a unique index This error occurs at runtime if one tries to insert a duplicate value into a column. The UNIQUE constraint specifies a rule that a group of one or more distinct columns of a table may 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. See the section on the UNIQUE column constraint for more details. Define a UNIQUE table constraint for the table distributors: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3), name VARCHAR(40), UNIQUE(name) ); [ CONSTRAINT name ] PRIMARY KEY ( column [, ...] ) CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary name for the constraint. column [, ...] The names of one or more columns in the table. status ERROR: Cannot insert a duplicate key into a unique index. This occurs at run-time if one tries to insert a duplicate value into a column subject to a PRIMARY KEY constraint. The PRIMARY KEY constraint specifies a rule that a group of one or more distinct columns of a table may contain only unique (nonduplicate), non-null values. The column definitions of the specified columns do not have to include a NOT NULL constraint to be included in a PRIMARY KEY constraint. The PRIMARY KEY table constraint is similar to that for column constraints, with the additional capability of encompassing multiple columns. Refer to the section on the PRIMARY KEY column constraint for more information. 2000-02-04 [ CONSTRAINT name ] FOREIGN KEY ( column [, ...] ) REFERENCES reftable [ ( refcolumn [, ...] ) ] [ MATCH matchtype ] [ ON DELETE action ] [ ON UPDATE action ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] [ INITIALLY checktime ] The REFERENCES constraint specifies a rule that a column value is checked against the values of another column. REFERENCES can also be specified as part of a FOREIGN KEY table constraint. CONSTRAINT name An arbitrary name for the constraint. column [, ...] The names of one or more columns in the table. reftable The table that contains the data to check against. referenced column [, ...] One or more column in the reftable to check the data against. If this is not specified, the PRIMARY KEY of the reftable is used. MATCH matchtype There are three match types: MATCH FULL, MATCH PARTIAL, and a default match type if none is specified. MATCH FULL will not allow one column of a multi-column foreign key to be NULL unless all foreign key columns are NULL. The default MATCH type allows some foreign key columns to be NULL while other parts of the foreign key are not NULL. MATCH PARTIAL is currently not supported. ON DELETE action The action to do when a referenced row in the referenced table is being deleted. There are the following actions. NO ACTION Produce error if foreign key violated. This is the default. RESTRICT Same as NO ACTION. CASCADE Delete any rows referencing the deleted row. SET NULL Set the referencing column values to NULL. SET DEFAULT Set the referencing column values to their default value. ON UPDATE action The action to do 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 changed, no action is done. There are the following actions. NO ACTION Produce error if foreign key violated. This is the default. RESTRICT Disallow update of row being referenced. CASCADE Update the value of the referencing column to the new value of the referenced column. SET NULL Set the referencing column values to NULL. SET DEFAULT Set the referencing column values to their default value. [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE This controls whether the constraint can be deferred to the end of the transaction. If DEFERRABLE, SET CONSTRAINTS ALL DEFERRED will cause the foreign key to be checked only at the end of the transaction. NOT DEFERRABLE is the default. INITIALLY checktime checktime has two possible values which specify the default time to check the constraint. IMMEDIATE Check constraint after each statement. This is the default. DEFERRED Check constraint only at the end of the transaction. 2000-02-04 status ERROR: name referential integrity violation - key referenced from table not found in reftable This error occurs at runtime if one tries to insert a value into a column which does not have a matching column in the referenced table. The FOREIGN KEY constraint specifies a rule that a group of one or more distinct columns of a table is related to a group of distinct columns in the referenced table. The FOREIGN KEY table constraint is similar to that for column constraints, with the additional capability of encompassing multiple columns. Refer to the section on the FOREIGN KEY column constraint for more information. Create table films and table distributors: CREATE TABLE films ( code CHARACTER(5) CONSTRAINT firstkey PRIMARY KEY, title CHARACTER VARYING(40) NOT NULL, did DECIMAL(3) NOT NULL, date_prod DATE, kind CHAR(10), len INTERVAL HOUR TO MINUTE ); CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3) PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT NEXTVAL('serial'), name VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL CHECK (name <> '') ); Create a table with a 2-dimensional array: CREATE TABLE array ( 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 DECIMAL(3), date_prod DATE, kind CHAR(10), len INTERVAL HOUR TO MINUTE, CONSTRAINT production UNIQUE(date_prod) ); Define a CHECK column constraint: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3) CHECK (did > 100), name VARCHAR(40) ); Define a CHECK table constraint: CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3), name VARCHAR(40) CONSTRAINT con1 CHECK (did > 100 AND name > '') ); Define a PRIMARY KEY table constraint for the table films. PRIMARY KEY table constraints can be defined on one or more columns of the table: CREATE TABLE films ( code CHAR(5), title VARCHAR(40), did DECIMAL(3), date_prod DATE, kind CHAR(10), len INTERVAL HOUR TO MINUTE, CONSTRAINT code_title PRIMARY KEY(code,title) ); Defines a PRIMARY KEY column constraint for table distributors. PRIMARY KEY column constraints can only be defined on one column of the table (the following two examples are equivalent): CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3), name CHAR VARYING(40), PRIMARY KEY(did) ); CREATE TABLE distributors ( did DECIMAL(3) PRIMARY KEY, name VARCHAR(40) ); CREATE TABLE/UNDER is defined by SQL3. Multiple inheritance is a Postgres language extension. In addition to the locally visible temporary table, SQL92 also defines a CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE statement, and optionally an ON COMMIT clause: CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE table ( column type [ DEFAULT value ] [ CONSTRAINT column_constraint ] [, ...] ) [ CONSTRAINT table_constraint ] [ ON COMMIT { DELETE | PRESERVE } ROWS ] For temporary tables, the CREATE GLOBAL TEMPORARY TABLE statement names a new table visible to other clients and defines the table's columns and constraints. The optional ON COMMIT clause of CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE specifies whether or not the temporary table should be emptied of rows whenever COMMIT is executed. If the ON COMMIT clause is omitted, the default option, ON COMMIT DELETE ROWS, is assumed. To create a temporary table: CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE actors ( id DECIMAL(3), name VARCHAR(40), CONSTRAINT actor_id CHECK (id < 150) ) ON COMMIT DELETE ROWS; SQL92 specifies some additional capabilities for UNIQUE: Table Constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] UNIQUE ( column [, ...] ) [ { INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE } ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] Column Constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] UNIQUE [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] The NULL "constraint" (actually a non-constraint) is a Postgres extension to SQL92 is included for symmetry with the NOT NULL clause. Since it is the default for any column, its presence is simply noise. [ CONSTRAINT name ] NULL SQL92 specifies some additional capabilities for NOT NULL: [ CONSTRAINT name ] NOT NULL [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] SQL92 specifies some additional capabilities for constraints, and also defines assertions and domain constraints. Postgres does not yet support either domains or assertions. An assertion is a special type of integrity constraint and shares the same namespace as other constraints. However, an assertion is not necessarily dependent on one particular base table as constraints are, so SQL-92 provides the CREATE ASSERTION statement as an alternate method for defining a constraint: CREATE ASSERTION name CHECK ( condition ) Domain constraints are defined by CREATE DOMAIN or ALTER DOMAIN statements: Domain constraint: [ CONSTRAINT name ] CHECK constraint [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] Table constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] { PRIMARY KEY ( column, ... ) | FOREIGN KEY constraint | UNIQUE constraint | CHECK constraint } [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] Column constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] { NOT NULL | PRIMARY KEY | FOREIGN KEY constraint | UNIQUE | CHECK constraint } [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] A CONSTRAINT definition may contain one deferment attribute clause and/or one initial constraint mode clause, in any order. NOT DEFERRABLE The constraint must be checked at the end of each statement. SET CONSTRAINTS ALL DEFERRED will have no effect on this type of constraint. DEFERRABLE This controls whether the constraint can be deferred to the end of the transaction. If SET CONSTRAINTS ALL DEFERRED is used or the constraint is set to INITIALLY DEFERRED, this will cause the foreign key to be checked only at the end of the transaction. SET CONSTRAINTS changes the foreign key constraint mode only for the current transaction. INITIALLY IMMEDIATE Check constraint only at the end of the transaction. This is the default INITIALLY DEFERRED Check constraint after each statement. SQL92 specifies some additional capabilities for CHECK in either table or column constraints. table constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] CHECK ( VALUE condition ) [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] column constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] CHECK ( VALUE condition ) [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] SQL92 specifies some additional capabilities for PRIMARY KEY: Table Constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] PRIMARY KEY ( column [, ...] ) [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ] Column Constraint definition: [ CONSTRAINT name ] PRIMARY KEY [ {INITIALLY DEFERRED | INITIALLY IMMEDIATE} ] [ [ NOT ] DEFERRABLE ]