>> Co-worker asked a question I could not answer: Why is IF NOT EXISTS not supported by CREATE TABLE AS? > > That's an even worse idea than plain CREATE IF NOT EXISTS (which was > put in over vocal objections from me and some other people). Not only > would you not have the faintest clue as to the properties of the table > afterwards, but no clue as to its contents either.
You mean that, after running it, one cannot tell whether or not a new table was created or not without looking at it? I guess that makes sense, though sometimes I like to tell the system to assume that I know what I’m doing -- e.g., that either outcome works for me.
Not essential as a core feature, mind you; I can use DO to accomplish the same thing. It’s just a bit more work that way. And perhaps that’s for the best.
I'm planning to implement it for the next commit fest (2014-01)...
Regards,
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Fabrízio de Royes Mello Consultoria/Coaching PostgreSQL
