INSERT
SQL - Language Statements
INSERT
create new rows in a table
INSERT
INSERT INTO table [ ( column [, ...] ) ]
{ DEFAULT VALUES | VALUES ( { expression | DEFAULT } [, ...] ) | query }
Description
INSERT allows one to insert new rows into a
table. One can insert
a single row at a time or several rows as a result of a query.
The columns in the target list may be listed in any order.
Each column not present in the target list will be inserted
using a default value, either its declared default value
or null.
If the expression for each column is not of the correct data type,
automatic type conversion will be attempted.
You must have INSERT privilege to a table in
order to insert into it. If you use the query clause to insert rows from a
query, you also need to have SELECT privilege on
any table used in the query.
Parameters
table
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing table.
column
The name of a column in table.
DEFAULT VALUES
All columns will be filled with their default values.
expression
An expression or value to assign to column.
DEFAULT
This column will be filled with its default value.
query
A query (SELECT statement) that supplies the
rows to be inserted. Refer to the SELECT
statement for a description of the syntax.
Outputs
On successful completion, an INSERT> command returns a command
tag of the form
INSERT oid count
The count is the number
of rows inserted. If count
is exactly one, and the target table has OIDs, then
oid is the
OID assigned to the inserted row. Otherwise
oid is zero.
Examples
Insert a single row into table films:
INSERT INTO films VALUES
('UA502', 'Bananas', 105, '1971-07-13', 'Comedy', '82 minutes');
In this second example, the last column len is
omitted and therefore it will have the default value of null:
INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, date_prod, kind)
VALUES ('T_601', 'Yojimbo', 106, '1961-06-16', 'Drama');
The third example uses the DEFAULT clause for
the date columns rather than specifying a value:
INSERT INTO films VALUES
('UA502', 'Bananas', 105, DEFAULT, 'Comedy', '82 minutes');
INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, date_prod, kind)
VALUES ('T_601', 'Yojimbo', 106, DEFAULT, 'Drama');
This examples inserts several rows into table
films from table tmp:
INSERT INTO films SELECT * FROM tmp;
This example inserts into array columns:
-- Create an empty 3x3 gameboard for noughts-and-crosses
-- (all of these commands create the same board)
INSERT INTO tictactoe (game, board[1:3][1:3])
VALUES (1,'{{"","",""},{},{"",""}}');
INSERT INTO tictactoe (game, board[3][3])
VALUES (2,'{}');
INSERT INTO tictactoe (game, board)
VALUES (3,'{{,,},{,,},{,,}}');
Compatibility
INSERT conforms fully to the SQL standard.
Possible limitations of the query clause are documented under
.