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$PostgreSQL: pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/create_table.sgml,v 1.105 2006/09/16 00:30:17 momjian Exp $

PostgreSQL documentation

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<refentry id="SQL-CREATETABLE">

 <refmeta>

  <refentrytitle id="sql-createtable-title">CREATE TABLE</refentrytitle>

  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>

 </refmeta>


 <refnamediv>

  <refname>CREATE TABLE</refname>

  <refpurpose>define a new table</refpurpose>

 </refnamediv>


 <indexterm zone="sql-createtable">

  <primary>CREATE TABLE</primary>

 </indexterm>


 <refsynopsisdiv>

<synopsis>

CREATE [[GLOBAL | LOCAL] {TEMPORARY | TEMP}] TABLE table_name ( 
[ { column_name data_type [ DEFAULT default_expr ]     [column_constraint [ ... ]
[ ENCODING ( storage_directive [,...] ) ]
] 
   | table_constraint
   | LIKE other_table [{INCLUDING | EXCLUDING} 
                      {DEFAULTS | CONSTRAINTS}] ...}
   [, ... ] ]
   [column_reference_storage_directive [,...] ]
   )
   [ INHERITS ( parent_table [, ... ] ) ]
   [ WITH ( storage_parameter=value [, ... ] )
   [ ON COMMIT {PRESERVE ROWS | DELETE ROWS | DROP} ]
   [ TABLESPACE tablespace ]
   [ DISTRIBUTED BY (column, [ ... ] ) | DISTRIBUTED RANDOMLY ]
   [ PARTITION BY partition_type (column)
       [ SUBPARTITION BY partition_type (column) ] 
          [ SUBPARTITION TEMPLATE ( template_spec ) ]
       [...]
    ( partition_spec ) 
        | [ SUBPARTITION BY partition_type (column) ]
          [...]
    ( partition_spec 
      [ ( subpartition_spec 
           [(...)] 
         ) ] 
    )

where storage_parameter is:
   APPENDONLY={TRUE|FALSE}
   BLOCKSIZE={8192-2097152}
   ORIENTATION={PARQUET|ROW}
   COMPRESSTYPE={ZLIB|SNAPPY|GZIP|NONE}
   COMPRESSLEVEL={0-9}
   FILLFACTOR={10-100}
   OIDS[=TRUE|FALSE]

where column_constraint is:
   [CONSTRAINT constraint_name]
   NOT NULL | NULL 
   | UNIQUE [USING INDEX TABLESPACE tablespace]
            [WITH ( FILLFACTOR = value )]
   | PRIMARY KEY [USING INDEX TABLESPACE tablespace] 
                 [WITH ( FILLFACTOR = value )]
   | CHECK ( expression )

and table_constraint is:
   [CONSTRAINT constraint_name]
   UNIQUE ( column_name [, ... ] )
          [USING INDEX TABLESPACE tablespace] 
          [WITH ( FILLFACTOR=value )] 
   | PRIMARY KEY ( column_name [, ... ] ) 
                 [USING INDEX TABLESPACE tablespace] 
                 [WITH ( FILLFACTOR=value )] 
   | CHECK ( expression )

where partition_type is:
    LIST
  | RANGE

where partition_specification is:
partition_element [, ...]

and partition_element is:
   DEFAULT PARTITION name
  | [PARTITION name] VALUES (list_value [,...] )
  | [PARTITION name] 
     START ([datatype] 'start_value') [INCLUSIVE | EXCLUSIVE]
     [ END ([datatype] 'end_value') [INCLUSIVE | EXCLUSIVE] ]
     [ EVERY ([datatype] [number | INTERVAL] 'interval_value') ]
  | [PARTITION name] 
     END ([datatype] 'end_value') [INCLUSIVE | EXCLUSIVE]
     [ EVERY ([datatype] [number | INTERVAL] 'interval_value') ]
[ WITH ( partition_storage_parameter=value [, ... ] ) ]
[column_reference_storage_directive [, ...] ]

[ TABLESPACE tablespace ]

where subpartition_spec or template_spec is:
subpartition_element [, ...]
and subpartition_element is:
   DEFAULT SUBPARTITION name
  | [SUBPARTITION name] VALUES (list_value [,...] )
  | [SUBPARTITION name] 
     START ([datatype] 'start_value') [INCLUSIVE | EXCLUSIVE]
     [ END ([datatype] 'end_value') [INCLUSIVE | EXCLUSIVE] ]
     [ EVERY ([datatype] [number | INTERVAL] 'interval_value') ]
  | [SUBPARTITION name] 
     END ([datatype] 'end_value') [INCLUSIVE | EXCLUSIVE]
     [ EVERY ([datatype] [number | INTERVAL] 'interval_value') ]
[ WITH ( partition_storage_parameter=value [, ... ] ) ]
[column_reference_storage_directive [, ...] ]
[ TABLESPACE tablespace ]

where storage_directive is:
   COMPRESSTYPE={ZLIB|SNAPPY|GZIP|NONE} 
 | COMPRESSLEVEL={0-9} 
 | BLOCKSIZE={8192-2097152}

Where column_reference_storage_directive is:

   COLUMN column_name ENCODING ( storage_directive [, ... ] ), ... 
 | DEFAULT COLUMN ENCODING ( storage_directive [, ... ] )

</synopsis>


 </refsynopsisdiv>


 <refsect1 id="SQL-CREATETABLE-description">

  <title>Description</title>


  <para>

   <command>CREATE TABLE</command> will create a new, initially empty table

   in the current database. The table will be owned by the user issuing the

   command.

  </para>


  <para>

   If a schema name is given (for example, <literal>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 may not 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.

  </para>


  <para>

   <command>CREATE TABLE</command> 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.

  </para>


  <para>

   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.

  </para>


  <para>

   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.    For more information, search for 
   
   "Column-level Compression" in the Greenplum Database Administrator Guide.

  </para>

  <para>

   Note: You cannot create a table with both column encodings
 
   and compression parameters in a WITH clause.

  </para?

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>

  <title>Parameters</title>


  <variablelist>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>TEMPORARY</> or <literal>TEMP</></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      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 <literal>ON COMMIT</literal> 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.

     </para>


     <para>

      Optionally, <literal>GLOBAL</literal> or <literal>LOCAL</literal>

      can be written before <literal>TEMPORARY</> or <literal>TEMP</>.

      This makes no difference in <productname>PostgreSQL</>, but see

      <xref linkend="sql-createtable-compatibility"

      endterm="sql-createtable-compatibility-title">.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">table_name</replaceable></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

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

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">column_name</replaceable></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

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

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">data_type</replaceable></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The data type of the column. This may include array

      specifiers. For more information on the data types supported by

      <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, refer to <xref

      linkend="datatype">.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>DEFAULT

    <replaceable>default_expr</replaceable></literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The <literal>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.

     </para>


     <para>

      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.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>INHERITS ( <replaceable>parent_table</replaceable> [, ... ] )</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The optional <literal>INHERITS</> clause specifies a list of

      tables from which the new table automatically inherits all

      columns.

     </para>


     <para>

      Use of <literal>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).

     </para>


     <para>

      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.

     </para>

<!--

     <para>

      <productname>PostgreSQL</> automatically allows the

     created table to inherit

      functions on tables above it in the inheritance hierarchy; that

      is, if we create table <literal>foo</literal> inheriting from

      <literal>bar</literal>, then functions that accept the tuple

      type <literal>bar</literal> can also be applied to instances of

      <literal>foo</literal>.  (Currently, this works reliably for

      functions on the first or only parent table, but not so well for

      functions on additional parents.)

     </para>

-->

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>LIKE <replaceable>parent_table</replaceable> [ { INCLUDING | EXCLUDING } { DEFAULTS | CONSTRAINTS } ]</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The <literal>LIKE</literal> clause specifies a table from which

      the new table automatically copies all column names, their data types,

      and their not-null constraints.

     </para>

     <para>

      Unlike <literal>INHERITS</literal>, 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.

     </para>

     <para>

      Default expressions for the copied column definitions will only be

      copied if <literal>INCLUDING DEFAULTS</literal> is specified.  The

      default behavior is to exclude default expressions, resulting in the

      copied columns in the new table having null defaults.

     </para>

     <para>

      Not-null constraints are always copied to the new table.

      <literal>CHECK</literal> constraints will only be copied if

      <literal>INCLUDING CONSTRAINTS</literal> is specified; other types of

      constraints will never be copied. Also, no distinction is made between

      column constraints and table constraints &mdash; when constraints are

      requested, all check constraints are copied.

     </para>

     <para>

      Note also that unlike <literal>INHERITS</literal>, copied columns and

      constraints are not merged with similarly named columns and constraints.

      If the same name is specified explicitly or in another

      <literal>LIKE</literal> clause an error is signalled.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>CONSTRAINT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">constraint_name</replaceable></literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      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 <literal>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.

     </para>
 
     <para>

     Note: The specified constraint_name is used for the constraint, but a 

     system-generated unique name is used for the index name. In some prior 
  
     releases, the provided name was used for both the constraint name 
     and the index name. 
     
    </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>NOT NULL</></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The column is not allowed to contain null values.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>NULL</></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

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

     </para>


     <para>

      This clause is only provided for compatibility with

      non-standard SQL databases.  Its use is discouraged in new

      applications.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>UNIQUE</> (column constraint)</term>

    <term><literal>UNIQUE ( <replaceable class="PARAMETER">column_name</replaceable> [, ... ] )</> (table constraint)</term>


    <listitem>

     <para>

      The <literal>UNIQUE</literal> constraint specifies that a

      group of one or more 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.

     </para>


     <para>

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

      considered equal.

     </para>


     <para>

      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.)

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>PRIMARY KEY</> (column constraint)</term>

    <term><literal>PRIMARY KEY ( <replaceable class="PARAMETER">column_name</replaceable> [, ... ] )</> (table constraint)</term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The primary key constraint specifies that a column or columns of a table

      may contain only unique (non-duplicate), nonnull values.

      Technically, <literal>PRIMARY KEY</literal> is merely a

      combination of <literal>UNIQUE</> and <literal>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

      may rely on this set of columns as a unique identifier for rows.

     </para>


     <para>

      Only one primary key can be specified for a table, whether as a

      column constraint or a table constraint.

     </para>


     <para>

      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.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>CHECK ( <replaceable class="PARAMETER">expression</replaceable> )</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The <literal>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 may reference multiple columns.

     </para>


     <para>

      Currently, <literal>CHECK</literal> expressions cannot contain

      subqueries nor refer to variables other than columns of the

      current row.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>REFERENCES <replaceable class="parameter">reftable</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">refcolumn</replaceable> ) ] [ MATCH <replaceable class="parameter">matchtype</replaceable> ] [ ON DELETE <replaceable class="parameter">action</replaceable> ] [ ON UPDATE <replaceable class="parameter">action</replaceable> ]</literal> (column constraint)</term>


   <term><literal>FOREIGN KEY ( <replaceable class="parameter">column</replaceable> [, ... ] )

    REFERENCES <replaceable class="parameter">reftable</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="parameter">refcolumn</replaceable> [, ... ] ) ]

    [ MATCH <replaceable class="parameter">matchtype</replaceable> ]

    [ ON DELETE <replaceable class="parameter">action</replaceable> ]

    [ ON UPDATE <replaceable class="parameter">action</replaceable> ]</literal>

    (table constraint)</term>


    <listitem>

     <para>

      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 <replaceable

      class="parameter">refcolumn</replaceable> is omitted, the

      primary key of the <replaceable

      class="parameter">reftable</replaceable> 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 may not be defined between temporary tables and

      permanent tables.

     </para>


     <para>

      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: <literal>MATCH

      FULL</>, <literal>MATCH PARTIAL</>, and <literal>MATCH

      SIMPLE</literal>, which is also the default.  <literal>MATCH

      FULL</> will not allow one column of a multicolumn foreign key

      to be null unless all foreign key columns are null.

      <literal>MATCH SIMPLE</literal> allows some foreign key columns

      to be null while other parts of the foreign key are not

      null. <literal>MATCH PARTIAL</> is not yet implemented.

     </para>


     <para>

      In addition, when the data in the referenced columns is changed,

      certain actions are performed on the data in this table's

      columns.  The <literal>ON DELETE</literal> clause specifies the

      action to perform when a referenced row in the referenced table is

      being deleted.  Likewise, the <literal>ON UPDATE</literal>

      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

      <literal>NO ACTION</literal> check cannot be deferred, even if

      the constraint is declared deferrable. There are the following possible

      actions for each clause:


      <variablelist>

       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>NO ACTION</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          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.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>


       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>RESTRICT</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          Produce an error indicating that the deletion or update

          would create a foreign key constraint violation.

          This is the same as <literal>NO ACTION</literal> except that

          the check is not deferrable.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>


       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>CASCADE</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          Delete any rows referencing the deleted row, or update the

          value of the referencing column to the new value of the

          referenced column, respectively.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>


       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>SET NULL</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          Set the referencing column(s) to null.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>


       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>SET DEFAULT</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

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

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>

      </variablelist>

     </para>


     <para>

      If the referenced column(s) are changed frequently, it may 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.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>DEFERRABLE</literal></term>

    <term><literal>NOT DEFERRABLE</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      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 may be postponed until the end of the transaction

      (using the <xref linkend="sql-set-constraints" endterm="sql-set-constraints-title"> command).

      <literal>NOT DEFERRABLE</literal> is the default.  Only foreign

      key constraints currently accept this clause.  All other

      constraint types are not deferrable.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>INITIALLY IMMEDIATE</literal></term>

    <term><literal>INITIALLY DEFERRED</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      If a constraint is deferrable, this clause specifies the default

      time to check the constraint.  If the constraint is

      <literal>INITIALLY IMMEDIATE</literal>, it is checked after each

      statement. This is the default.  If the constraint is

      <literal>INITIALLY DEFERRED</literal>, it is checked only at the

      end of the transaction.  The constraint check time can be

      altered with the <xref linkend="sql-set-constraints" endterm="sql-set-constraints-title"> command.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>WITH ( <replaceable class="PARAMETER">storage_parameter</replaceable> [= <replaceable class="PARAMETER">value</replaceable>] [, ... ] )</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      This clause specifies optional storage parameters for a table or index;

      see <xref linkend="sql-createtable-storage-parameters"

      endterm="sql-createtable-storage-parameters-title"> for more

      information.  The <literal>WITH</> clause for a

      table can also include <literal>OIDS=TRUE</> (or just <literal>OIDS</>)

      to specify that rows of the new table

      should have OIDs (object identifiers) assigned to them, or

      <literal>OIDS=FALSE</> to specify that the rows should not have OIDs.

      If <literal>OIDS</> is not specified, the default setting depends upon

      the <xref linkend="guc-default-with-oids"> configuration parameter.

      (If the new table inherits from any tables that have OIDs, then

      <literal>OIDS=TRUE</> is forced even if the command says

      <literal>OIDS=FALSE</>.)

     </para>


     <para>

      If <literal>OIDS=FALSE</literal> 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.

     </para>


     <para>

      To remove OIDs from a table after it has been created, use <xref

      linkend="sql-altertable" endterm="sql-altertable-title">.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>WITH OIDS</></term>

    <term><literal>WITHOUT OIDS</></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      These are obsolescent syntaxes equivalent to <literal>WITH (OIDS)</>

      and <literal>WITH (OIDS=FALSE)</>, respectively.  If you wish to give

      both an <literal>OIDS</> setting and storage parameters, you must use

      the <literal>WITH ( ... )</> syntax; see above.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>ON COMMIT</literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The behavior of temporary tables at the end of a transaction

      block can be controlled using <literal>ON COMMIT</literal>.

      The three options are:


      <variablelist>

       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>PRESERVE ROWS</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          No special action is taken at the ends of transactions.

          This is the default behavior.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>


       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>DELETE ROWS</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          All rows in the temporary table will be deleted at the end

          of each transaction block.  Essentially, an automatic <xref

          linkend="sql-truncate" endterm="sql-truncate-title"> is done

          at each commit.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>


       <varlistentry>

        <term><literal>DROP</literal></term>

        <listitem>

         <para>

          The temporary table will be dropped at the end of the current

          transaction block.

         </para>

        </listitem>

       </varlistentry>

      </variablelist>

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>TABLESPACE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">tablespace</replaceable></literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The <replaceable class="PARAMETER">tablespace</replaceable> is the name

      of the tablespace in which the new table is to be created.

      If not specified,

      <xref linkend="guc-default-tablespace"> is used, or the database's

      default tablespace if <varname>default_tablespace</> is an empty

      string.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>USING INDEX TABLESPACE <replaceable class="PARAMETER">tablespace</replaceable></literal></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      This clause allows selection of the tablespace in which the index

      associated with a <literal>UNIQUE</literal> or <literal>PRIMARY

      KEY</literal> constraint will be created.

      If not specified,

      <xref linkend="guc-default-tablespace"> is used, or the database's

      default tablespace if <varname>default_tablespace</> is an empty

      string.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


  </variablelist>


  <refsect2 id="SQL-CREATETABLE-storage-parameters">

   <title id="SQL-CREATETABLE-storage-parameters-title">Storage Parameters</title>


   <para>

    The <literal>WITH</> clause can specify <firstterm>storage parameters</>

    for tables, and for indexes associated with a <literal>UNIQUE</literal> or

    <literal>PRIMARY KEY</literal> constraint.  Storage parameters for

    indexes are documented in <xref linkend="SQL-CREATEINDEX"

    endterm="sql-createindex-title">.  The only storage parameter currently

    available for tables is:

   </para>


   <variablelist>


   <varlistentry>

    <term><literal>FILLFACTOR</></term>

    <listitem>

     <para>

      The fillfactor for a table is a percentage between 10 and 100.

      100 (complete packing) is the default.  When a smaller fillfactor

      is specified, <command>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 <command>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.

     </para>

    </listitem>

   </varlistentry>


   </variablelist>


  </refsect2>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1 id="SQL-CREATETABLE-notes">

  <title>Notes</title>


    <para>

     Using OIDs in new applications is not recommended: where

     possible, using a <literal>SERIAL</literal> 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 <structfield>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 <structfield>tableoid</> and row OID for the

     purpose.

    </para>


    <tip>

     <para>

      The use of <literal>OIDS=FALSE</literal> 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.

     </para>

    </tip>


    <para>

     <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 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 <xref

     linkend="sql-createindex" endterm="sql-createindex-title"> for more information.)

    </para>


    <para>

     Unique constraints and primary keys are not inherited in the

     current implementation.  This makes the combination of

     inheritance and unique constraints rather dysfunctional.

    </para>


    <para>

     A table cannot have more than 1600 columns.  (In practice, the

     effective limit is usually lower because of tuple-length constraints.)

    </para>


 </refsect1>


 <refsect1 id="SQL-CREATETABLE-examples">

  <title>Examples</title>


  <para>

   Create table <structname>films</> and table

   <structname>distributors</>:


<programlisting>

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

);

</programlisting>


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

     did    integer PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT nextval('serial'),

     name   varchar(40) NOT NULL CHECK (name &lt;&gt; '')

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Create a table with a 2-dimensional array:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE array_int (

    vector  int[][]

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Define a unique table constraint for the table

   <literal>films</literal>.  Unique table constraints can be defined

   on one or more columns of the table.


<programlisting>

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)

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Define a check column constraint:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer CHECK (did &gt; 100),

    name    varchar(40)

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Define a check table constraint:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer,

    name    varchar(40)

    CONSTRAINT con1 CHECK (did &gt; 100 AND name &lt;&gt; '')

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Define a primary key table constraint for the table

   <structname>films</>:


<programlisting>

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)

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Define a primary key constraint for table

   <structname>distributors</>.  The following two examples are

   equivalent, the first using the table constraint syntax, the second

   the column constraint syntax:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer,

    name    varchar(40),

    PRIMARY KEY(did)

);

</programlisting>


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer PRIMARY KEY,

    name    varchar(40)

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Assign a literal constant default value for the column

   <literal>name</literal>, arrange for the default value of column

   <literal>did</literal> to be generated by selecting the next value

   of a sequence object, and make the default value of

   <literal>modtime</literal> be the time at which the row is

   inserted:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    name      varchar(40) DEFAULT 'Luso Films',

    did       integer DEFAULT nextval('distributors_serial'),

    modtime   timestamp DEFAULT current_timestamp

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Define two <literal>NOT NULL</> column constraints on the table

   <classname>distributors</classname>, one of which is explicitly

   given a name:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer CONSTRAINT no_null NOT NULL,

    name    varchar(40) NOT NULL

);

</programlisting>

    </para>


    <para>

     Define a unique constraint for the <literal>name</literal> column:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer,

    name    varchar(40) UNIQUE

);

</programlisting>


     The same, specified as a table constraint:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer,

    name    varchar(40),

    UNIQUE(name)

);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Create the same table, specifying 70% fill factor for both the table

   and its unique index:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE distributors (

    did     integer,

    name    varchar(40),

    UNIQUE(name) WITH (fillfactor=70)

)

WITH (fillfactor=70);

</programlisting>

  </para>


  <para>

   Create table <structname>cinemas</> in tablespace <structname>diskvol1</>:


<programlisting>

CREATE TABLE cinemas (

        id serial,

        name text,

        location text

) TABLESPACE diskvol1;

</programlisting>

  </para>


 </refsect1>


 <refsect1 id="SQL-CREATETABLE-compatibility">

  <title id="SQL-CREATETABLE-compatibility-title">Compatibility</title>


  <para>

   The <command>CREATE TABLE</command> command conforms to the

   <acronym>SQL</acronym> standard, with exceptions listed below.

  </para>


  <refsect2>

   <title>Temporary Tables</title>


   <para>

    Although the syntax of <literal>CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE</literal>

    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.

    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> instead

    requires each session to issue its own <literal>CREATE TEMPORARY

    TABLE</literal> 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.

   </para>


   <para>

    The standard's definition of the behavior of temporary tables is

    widely ignored.  <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>'s behavior

    on this point is similar to that of several other SQL databases.

   </para>


   <para>

    The standard's distinction between global and local temporary tables

    is not in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>, since that distinction

    depends on the concept of modules, which

    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> does not have.

    For compatibility's sake, <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> will

    accept the <literal>GLOBAL</literal> and <literal>LOCAL</literal> keywords

    in a temporary table declaration, but they have no effect.

   </para>


   <para>

    The <literal>ON COMMIT</literal> clause for temporary tables

    also resembles the SQL standard, but has some differences.

    If the <literal>ON COMMIT</> clause is omitted, SQL specifies that the

    default behavior is <literal>ON COMMIT DELETE ROWS</>.  However, the

    default behavior in <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> is

    <literal>ON COMMIT PRESERVE ROWS</literal>.  The <literal>ON COMMIT

    DROP</literal> option does not exist in SQL.

   </para>

  </refsect2>


  <refsect2>

   <title>Column Check Constraints</title>


   <para>

    The SQL standard says that <literal>CHECK</> column constraints

    may only refer to the column they apply to; only <literal>CHECK</>

    table constraints may refer to multiple columns.

    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> does not enforce this

    restriction; it treats column and table check constraints alike.

   </para>

  </refsect2>


  <refsect2>

   <title><literal>NULL</literal> <quote>Constraint</quote></title>


   <para>

    The <literal>NULL</> <quote>constraint</quote> (actually a

    non-constraint) is a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>

    extension to the SQL standard that is included for compatibility with some

    other database systems (and for symmetry with the <literal>NOT

    NULL</literal> constraint).  Since it is the default for any

    column, its presence is simply noise.

   </para>

  </refsect2>


  <refsect2>

   <title>Inheritance</title>


   <para>

    Multiple inheritance via the <literal>INHERITS</literal> clause is

    a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> 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

    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>.

   </para>

  </refsect2>


  <refsect2>

   <title>Zero-column tables</title>


   <para>

    <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> allows a table of no columns

    to be created (for example, <literal>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 <command>ALTER TABLE

    DROP COLUMN</>, so it seems cleaner to ignore this spec restriction.

   </para>

  </refsect2>


  <refsect2>

   <title><literal>WITH</> clause</title>


   <para>

    The <literal>WITH</> clause is a <productname>PostgreSQL</productname>

    extension; neither storage parameters nor OIDs are in the standard.

   </para>

  </refsect2>


  <refsect2>

   <title>Tablespaces</title>


   <para>

    The <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> concept of tablespaces is not

    part of the standard.  Hence, the clauses <literal>TABLESPACE</literal>

    and <literal>USING INDEX TABLESPACE</literal> are extensions.

   </para>

  </refsect2>

 </refsect1>


 <refsect1>

  <title>See Also</title>


  <simplelist type="inline">

   <member><xref linkend="sql-altertable" endterm="sql-altertable-title"></member>

   <member><xref linkend="sql-droptable" endterm="sql-droptable-title"></member>

   <member><xref linkend="sql-createtablespace" endterm="sql-createtablespace-title"></member>

  </simplelist>

 </refsect1>

</refentry>