PostgreSQL 7.3.4 Documentation
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# INSERT

## Name

INSERT -- create new rows in a table

## Synopsis

    INSERT INTO table [ ( column [, ...] ) ]
        { DEFAULT VALUES | VALUES ( { expression | DEFAULT } [, ...] ) | SELECT query }

### Inputs

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 by null values or by values specified when the table was created using DEFAULT clauses.

expression

  A valid expression or value to assign to column.

DEFAULT

  This column will be filled in by the column DEFAULT clause, or NULL if a default is not available.

query

  A valid query. Refer to the SELECT statement for a further description of valid arguments.

### Outputs

`INSERT oid 1`

  Message returned if only one row was inserted. oid is the numeric OID of the inserted row.

`INSERT 0 #`

  Message returned if more than one rows were inserted. # is the number of rows inserted.

## 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 a declared DEFAULT value or NULL. PostgreSQL will reject the new column if a NULL is inserted into a column declared NOT NULL.

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

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.

## Usage

Insert a single row into table films:

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

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, DATE '1961-06-16', 'Drama');

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

    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');

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

    INSERT INTO distributors (name) VALUES ('British Lion');

Insert several rows into table films from table tmp:

    INSERT INTO films SELECT * FROM tmp;

Insert into arrays (refer to the PostgreSQL User's Guide for further information about arrays):

    -- 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,'{{,,},{,,},{,,}}');

## Compatibility

### SQL92

`INSERT` is fully compatible with SQL92. Possible limitations in features of the query clause are documented for SELECT.

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