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$Header: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/ref/insert.sgml,v 1.19 2002/09/21 18:32:54 petere Exp $
PostgreSQL documentation
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<refentry id="SQL-INSERT">
 <refmeta>
  <refentrytitle id="SQL-INSERT-TITLE">INSERT</refentrytitle>
  <refmiscinfo>SQL - Language Statements</refmiscinfo>
 </refmeta>
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>
   INSERT
  </refname>
  <refpurpose>
   create new rows in a table
  </refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>
 <refsynopsisdiv>
  <refsynopsisdivinfo>
   <date>2000-08-08</date>
  </refsynopsisdivinfo>
  <synopsis>
INSERT INTO <replaceable class="PARAMETER">table</replaceable> [ ( <replaceable class="PARAMETER">column</replaceable> [, ...] ) ]
    { DEFAULT VALUES | VALUES ( { <replaceable class="PARAMETER">expression</replaceable> | DEFAULT } [, ...] ) | SELECT <replaceable class="PARAMETER">query</replaceable> }
  </synopsis>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-INSERT-1">
   <title>
    Inputs
   </title>

   <para>

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">table</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing table.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">column</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	The name of a column in <replaceable class="PARAMETER">table</replaceable>.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term>DEFAULT VALUES</term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	All columns will be filled by null values or by values specified
	when the table was created using <literal>DEFAULT</> clauses.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">expression</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A valid expression or value to assign to <replaceable
	 class="PARAMETER">column</replaceable>.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">DEFAULT</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	This column will be filled in by the column DEFAULT clause, or NULL if
	a default is not available.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>

     <varlistentry>
      <term><replaceable class="PARAMETER">query</replaceable></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	A valid query. Refer to the SELECT statement for a further description
	of valid arguments.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-INSERT-2">
   <title>
    Outputs
   </title>
   <para>

    <variablelist>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>
INSERT <replaceable>oid</replaceable> 1
       </computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	Message returned if only one row was inserted.
	<returnvalue><replaceable>oid</replaceable></returnvalue>
	is the numeric <acronym>OID</acronym> of the inserted row.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
     <varlistentry>
      <term><computeroutput>
INSERT 0 <replaceable>#</replaceable>
       </computeroutput></term>
      <listitem>
       <para>
	Message returned if more than one rows were inserted.
	<returnvalue><replaceable>#</replaceable></returnvalue>
	is the number of rows inserted.
       </para>
      </listitem>
     </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsynopsisdiv>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-INSERT-1">
  <title>
   Description
  </title>

  <para>
   <command>INSERT</command> 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.
  </para>

  <para>
   Each column not present in the target list will be inserted
   using a default value, either a declared DEFAULT value
   or NULL. <productname>PostgreSQL</productname> will reject the new
   column if a NULL is inserted into a column declared NOT NULL.
  </para>

  <para>
   If the expression for each column
   is not of the correct data type, automatic type coercion will be
   attempted.
  </para>

  <para>
   You must have insert privilege to a table in order to append
   to it, as well as select privilege on any table specified
   in a WHERE clause.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-INSERT-2">
  <title>
   Usage
  </title>
  <para>
   Insert a single row into table <literal>films</literal>:

   <programlisting>
INSERT INTO films VALUES
    ('UA502','Bananas',105,'1971-07-13','Comedy',INTERVAL '82 minute');
   </programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   In this second example the last column <literal>len</literal> is
   omitted and therefore it will have the default value of NULL:

   <programlisting>
INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, date_prod, kind)
    VALUES ('T_601', 'Yojimbo', 106, DATE '1961-06-16', 'Drama');
   </programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   In the third example, we use the DEFAULT values for the date columns
   rather than specifying an entry.

   <programlisting>
INSERT INTO films VALUES
    ('UA502','Bananas',105,DEFAULT,'Comedy',INTERVAL '82 minute');
INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, date_prod, kind)
    VALUES ('T_601', 'Yojimbo', 106, DEFAULT, 'Drama');
   </programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Insert a single row into table distributors; note that
   only column <literal>name</literal> is specified, so the omitted
   column <literal>did</literal> will be assigned its default value:

   <programlisting>
INSERT INTO distributors (name) VALUES ('British Lion');
   </programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Insert several rows into table films from table <literal>tmp</literal>:

   <programlisting>
INSERT INTO films SELECT * FROM tmp;
   </programlisting>
  </para>

  <para>
   Insert into arrays (refer to the
   <citetitle>PostgreSQL User's Guide</citetitle> for further
   information about arrays):

   <programlisting>
-- Create an empty 3x3 gameboard for noughts-and-crosses
-- (all of these queries create the same board attribute)
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,'{{,,},{,,},{,,}}');
   </programlisting>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 id="R1-SQL-INSERT-3">
  <title>
   Compatibility
  </title>

  <refsect2 id="R2-SQL-INSERT-4">
   <title>
    SQL92
   </title>
   <para>
    <command>INSERT</command> is fully compatible with <acronym>SQL92</acronym>.
    Possible limitations in features of the
    <replaceable class="PARAMETER">query</replaceable>
    clause are documented for
    <xref linkend="sql-select" endterm="sql-select-title">.
   </para>
  </refsect2>
 </refsect1>
</refentry>

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