INSERT(7)		PostgreSQL 9.2.24 Documentation		     INSERT(7)



NAME
       INSERT - create new rows in a table

SYNOPSIS
       [ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ]
       INSERT INTO table_name [ ( column_name [, ...] ) ]
	   { DEFAULT VALUES | VALUES ( { expression | DEFAULT } [, ...] ) [, ...] | query }
	   [ RETURNING * | output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...] ]

DESCRIPTION
       INSERT inserts new rows into a table. One can insert one or more rows
       specified by value expressions, or zero or more rows resulting from a
       query.

       The target column names can be listed in any order. If no list of
       column names is given at all, the default is all the columns of the
       table in their declared order; or the first N column names, if there
       are only N columns supplied by the VALUES clause or query. The values
       supplied by the VALUES clause or query are associated with the explicit
       or implicit column list left-to-right.

       Each column not present in the explicit or implicit column list will be
       filled with a default value, either its declared default value or null
       if there is none.

       If the expression for any column is not of the correct data type,
       automatic type conversion will be attempted.

       The optional RETURNING clause causes INSERT to compute and return
       value(s) based on each row actually inserted. This is primarily useful
       for obtaining values that were supplied by defaults, such as a serial
       sequence number. However, any expression using the table's columns is
       allowed. The syntax of the RETURNING list is identical to that of the
       output list of SELECT.

       You must have INSERT privilege on a table in order to insert into it.
       If a column list is specified, you only need INSERT privilege on the
       listed columns. Use of the RETURNING clause requires SELECT privilege
       on all columns mentioned in RETURNING. If you use the query clause to
       insert rows from a query, you of course need to have SELECT privilege
       on any table or column used in the query.

PARAMETERS
       with_query
	   The WITH clause allows you to specify one or more subqueries that
	   can be referenced by name in the INSERT query. See Section 7.8,
	   "WITH Queries (Common Table Expressions)", in the documentation and
	   SELECT(7) for details.

	   It is possible for the query (SELECT statement) to also contain a
	   WITH clause. In such a case both sets of with_query can be
	   referenced within the query, but the second one takes precedence
	   since it is more closely nested.

       table_name
	   The name (optionally schema-qualified) of an existing table.

       column_name
	   The name of a column in the table named by table_name. The column
	   name can be qualified with a subfield name or array subscript, if
	   needed. (Inserting into only some fields of a composite column
	   leaves the other fields null.)

       DEFAULT VALUES
	   All columns will be filled with their default values.

       expression
	   An expression or value to assign to the corresponding column.

       DEFAULT
	   The corresponding column will be filled with its default value.

       query
	   A query (SELECT statement) that supplies the rows to be inserted.
	   Refer to the SELECT(7) statement for a description of the syntax.

       output_expression
	   An expression to be computed and returned by the INSERT command
	   after each row is inserted. The expression can use any column names
	   of the table named by table_name. Write * to return all columns of
	   the inserted row(s).

       output_name
	   A name to use for a returned column.

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.

       If the INSERT command contains a RETURNING clause, the result will be
       similar to that of a SELECT statement containing the columns and values
       defined in the RETURNING list, computed over the row(s) inserted by the
       command.

EXAMPLES
       Insert a single row into table films:

	   INSERT INTO films VALUES
	       ('UA502', 'Bananas', 105, '1971-07-13', 'Comedy', '82 minutes');

       In this example, the len column is omitted and therefore it will have
       the default value:

	   INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, date_prod, kind)
	       VALUES ('T_601', 'Yojimbo', 106, '1961-06-16', 'Drama');

       This 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');

       To insert a row consisting entirely of default values:

	   INSERT INTO films DEFAULT VALUES;

       To insert multiple rows using the multirow VALUES syntax:

	   INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, date_prod, kind) VALUES
	       ('B6717', 'Tampopo', 110, '1985-02-10', 'Comedy'),
	       ('HG120', 'The Dinner Game', 140, DEFAULT, 'Comedy');

       This example inserts some rows into table films from a table tmp_films
       with the same column layout as films:

	   INSERT INTO films SELECT * FROM tmp_films WHERE date_prod < '2004-05-07';

       This example inserts into array columns:

	   -- Create an empty 3x3 gameboard for noughts-and-crosses
	   INSERT INTO tictactoe (game, board[1:3][1:3])
	       VALUES (1, '{{" "," "," "},{" "," "," "},{" "," "," "}}');
	   -- The subscripts in the above example aren't really needed
	   INSERT INTO tictactoe (game, board)
	       VALUES (2, '{{X," "," "},{" ",O," "},{" ",X," "}}');

       Insert a single row into table distributors, returning the sequence
       number generated by the DEFAULT clause:

	   INSERT INTO distributors (did, dname) VALUES (DEFAULT, 'XYZ Widgets')
	      RETURNING did;

       Increment the sales count of the salesperson who manages the account
       for Acme Corporation, and record the whole updated row along with
       current time in a log table:

	   WITH upd AS (
	     UPDATE employees SET sales_count = sales_count + 1 WHERE id =
	       (SELECT sales_person FROM accounts WHERE name = 'Acme Corporation')
	       RETURNING *
	   )
	   INSERT INTO employees_log SELECT *, current_timestamp FROM upd;

COMPATIBILITY
       INSERT conforms to the SQL standard, except that the RETURNING clause
       is a PostgreSQL extension, as is the ability to use WITH with INSERT.
       Also, the case in which a column name list is omitted, but not all the
       columns are filled from the VALUES clause or query, is disallowed by
       the standard.

       Possible limitations of the query clause are documented under
       SELECT(7).



PostgreSQL 9.2.24		  2017-11-06			     INSERT(7)