PostgreSQL 7.4.11 Documentation
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# INSERT

## Name

INSERT -- create new rows in a table

## Synopsis

    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 SELECT.

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