Thread: Re: [GENERAL] Re: temp table creation

> Yes Bruce, IT IS In the new documentation (7.1 release), but not in previous
> versions. If you want me to be specific, it's in the reference manual under
> SQL Commands - CREATE TABLE AS.....
>
> Cheers

Great.  Seemed like a nifty trick to get around a parser problem.



>
> Bruce Momjian wrote:
>
> > This should be in the docs somewhere.  Is it?
> >
> > > Alfonso Peniche <alfonso@iteso.mx> writes:
> > > > In that case, how could I create a temporary table from plpgsql?
> > >
> > > CREATE [TEMP] TABLE foo AS SELECT ...
> > >
> > > This is equivalent to SELECT INTO [TEMP] foo in regular SQL, and
> > > does not change meaning in plpgsql.
> > >
> > >                       regards, tom lane
> > >
> >
> > --
> >   Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
> >   pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
> >   +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
> >   +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026
>
>


--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026

Bruce Momjian <pgman@candle.pha.pa.us> writes:
>>>> This should be in the docs somewhere.  Is it?

Actually, I thought the question was not about whether CREATE TABLE AS
is documented, but about the specific point of it being the thing
to use for this purpose in plpgsql:

>> In that case, how could I create a temporary table from plpgsql?
> CREATE [TEMP] TABLE foo AS SELECT ...
> This is equivalent to SELECT INTO [TEMP] foo in regular SQL, and
> does not change meaning in plpgsql.

I have been thinking that our plain-SQL "SELECT INTO table" construct
should be deprecated (and maybe eventually removed), since it really
doesn't have much to do with the SQL-standard meaning of SELECT INTO:
the spec contemplates INTO as introducing a list of scalar variables to
be assigned to.  plpgsql and ecpg both use this meaning for SELECT INTO.

Would anyone object if I add text to the SELECT INTO ref page that
points this out, and recommends CREATE TABLE AS as the preferred
syntax?

            regards, tom lane

Tom Lane writes:

> the spec contemplates INTO as introducing a list of scalar variables to
> be assigned to.  plpgsql and ecpg both use this meaning for SELECT INTO.
>
> Would anyone object if I add text to the SELECT INTO ref page that
> points this out, and recommends CREATE TABLE AS as the preferred
> syntax?

I agree.  SELECT INTO is misnamed; it sounds like INSERT ... SELECT.

--
Peter Eisentraut      peter_e@gmx.net       http://yi.org/peter-e/

> Tom Lane writes:
>
> > the spec contemplates INTO as introducing a list of scalar variables to
> > be assigned to.  plpgsql and ecpg both use this meaning for SELECT INTO.
> >
> > Would anyone object if I add text to the SELECT INTO ref page that
> > points this out, and recommends CREATE TABLE AS as the preferred
> > syntax?
>
> I agree.  SELECT INTO is misnamed; it sounds like INSERT ... SELECT.

Yes.

--
  Bruce Momjian                        |  http://candle.pha.pa.us
  pgman@candle.pha.pa.us               |  (610) 853-3000
  +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
  +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026