CREATE VIEW() SQL Commands CREATE VIEW()NAME
CREATE VIEW - define a new view
SYNOPSIS
CREATE [ OR REPLACE ] [ TEMP | TEMPORARY ] VIEW name [ ( column_name [, ...] ) ]
AS query
DESCRIPTION
CREATE VIEW defines a view of a query. The view is not physically mate‐
rialized. Instead, the query is run every time the view is referenced
in a query.
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW is similar, but if a view of the same name
already exists, it is replaced. You can only replace a view with a new
query that generates the identical set of columns (i.e., same column
names and data types).
If a schema name is given (for example, CREATE VIEW myschema.myview
...) then the view is created in the specified schema. Otherwise it is
created in the current schema. Temporary views exist in a special
schema, so a schema name may not be given when creating a temporary
view. The name of the view must be distinct from the name of any other
view, table, sequence, or index in the same schema.
PARAMETERS
TEMPORARY or TEMP
If specified, the view is created as a temporary view. Tempo‐
rary views are automatically dropped at the end of the current
session. Existing permanent relations with the same name are not
visible to the current session while the temporary view exists,
unless they are referenced with schema-qualified names.
If any of the tables referenced by the view are temporary, the
view is created as a temporary view (whether TEMPORARY is speci‐
fied or not).
name The name (optionally schema-qualified) of a view to be created.
column_name
An optional list of names to be used for columns of the view.
If not given, the column names are deduced from the query.
query A query (that is, a SELECT statement) which will provide the
columns and rows of the view.
Refer to SELECT [select(7)] for more information about valid
queries.
NOTES
Currently, views are read only: the system will not allow an insert,
update, or delete on a view. You can get the effect of an updatable
view by creating rules that rewrite inserts, etc. on the view into
appropriate actions on other tables. For more information see CREATE
RULE [create_rule(7)].
Use the DROP VIEW [drop_view(7)] statement to drop views.
Be careful that the names and types of the view's columns will be
assigned the way you want. For example,
CREATE VIEW vista AS SELECT 'Hello World';
is bad form in two ways: the column name defaults to ?column?, and the
column data type defaults to unknown. If you want a string literal in a
view's result, use something like
CREATE VIEW vista AS SELECT text 'Hello World' AS hello;
Access to tables referenced in the view is determined by permissions of
the view owner. However, functions called in the view are treated the
same as if they had been called directly from the query using the view.
Therefore the user of a view must have permissions to call all func‐
tions used by the view.
EXAMPLES
Create a view consisting of all comedy films:
CREATE VIEW comedies AS
SELECT *
FROM films
WHERE kind = 'Comedy';
COMPATIBILITY
The SQL standard specifies some additional capabilities for the CREATE
VIEW statement:
CREATE VIEW name [ ( column_name [, ...] ) ]
AS query
[ WITH [ CASCADED | LOCAL ] CHECK OPTION ]
The optional clauses for the full SQL command are:
CHECK OPTION
This option has to do with updatable views. All INSERT and
UPDATE commands on the view will be checked to ensure data sat‐
isfy the view-defining condition (that is, the new data would be
visible through the view). If they do not, the update will be
rejected.
LOCAL Check for integrity on this view.
CASCADED
Check for integrity on this view and on any dependent view. CAS‐
CADED is assumed if neither CASCADED nor LOCAL is specified.
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW is a PostgreSQL language extension. So is the
concept of a temporary view.
SEE ALSO
DROP VIEW [drop_view(7)]
SQL - Language Statements 2005-11-05 CREATE VIEW()
