SQL Commands


This part contains reference information for the SQL commands supported by PostgreSQL . By " SQL " the language in general is meant; information about the standards conformance and compatibility of each command can be found on the respective reference page.

Table of Contents

ABORT - abort the current transaction
ALTER AGGREGATE - change the definition of an aggregate function
ALTER COLLATION - change the definition of a collation
ALTER CONVERSION - change the definition of a conversion
ALTER DATABASE - change a database
ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES - define default access privileges
ALTER DOMAIN - change the definition of a domain
ALTER EVENT TRIGGER - change the definition of an event trigger
ALTER EXTENSION - change the definition of an extension
ALTER FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER - change the definition of a foreign-data wrapper
ALTER FOREIGN TABLE - change the definition of a foreign table
ALTER FUNCTION - change the definition of a function
ALTER GROUP - change role name or membership
ALTER INDEX - change the definition of an index
ALTER LANGUAGE - change the definition of a procedural language
ALTER LARGE OBJECT - change the definition of a large object
ALTER MATERIALIZED VIEW - change the definition of a materialized view
ALTER OPERATOR - change the definition of an operator
ALTER OPERATOR CLASS - change the definition of an operator class
ALTER OPERATOR FAMILY - change the definition of an operator family
ALTER POLICY - change the definition of a row level security policy
ALTER PUBLICATION - change the definition of a publication
ALTER ROLE - change a database role
ALTER RULE - change the definition of a rule
ALTER SCHEMA - change the definition of a schema
ALTER SEQUENCE - change the definition of a sequence generator
ALTER SERVER - change the definition of a foreign server
ALTER STATISTICS - change the definition of an extended statistics object
ALTER SUBSCRIPTION - change the definition of a subscription
ALTER SYSTEM - change a server configuration parameter
ALTER TABLE - change the definition of a table
ALTER TABLESPACE - change the definition of a tablespace
ALTER TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION - change the definition of a text search configuration
ALTER TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY - change the definition of a text search dictionary
ALTER TEXT SEARCH PARSER - change the definition of a text search parser
ALTER TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE - change the definition of a text search template
ALTER TRIGGER - change the definition of a trigger
ALTER TYPE - change the definition of a type
ALTER USER - change a database role
ALTER USER MAPPING - change the definition of a user mapping
ALTER VIEW - change the definition of a view
ANALYZE - collect statistics about a database
BEGIN - start a transaction block
CHECKPOINT - force a write-ahead log checkpoint
CLOSE - close a cursor
CLUSTER - cluster a table according to an index
COMMENT - define or change the comment of an object
COMMIT - commit the current transaction
COMMIT PREPARED - commit a transaction that was earlier prepared for two-phase commit
COPY - copy data between a file and a table
CREATE ACCESS METHOD - define a new access method
CREATE AGGREGATE - define a new aggregate function
CREATE CAST - define a new cast
CREATE COLLATION - define a new collation
CREATE CONVERSION - define a new encoding conversion
CREATE DATABASE - create a new database
CREATE DOMAIN - define a new domain
CREATE EVENT TRIGGER - define a new event trigger
CREATE EXTENSION - install an extension
CREATE FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER - define a new foreign-data wrapper
CREATE FOREIGN TABLE - define a new foreign table
CREATE FUNCTION - define a new function
CREATE GROUP - define a new database role
CREATE INDEX - define a new index
CREATE LANGUAGE - define a new procedural language
CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW - define a new materialized view
CREATE OPERATOR - define a new operator
CREATE OPERATOR CLASS - define a new operator class
CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY - define a new operator family
CREATE POLICY - define a new row level security policy for a table
CREATE PUBLICATION - define a new publication
CREATE ROLE - define a new database role
CREATE RULE - define a new rewrite rule
CREATE SCHEMA - define a new schema
CREATE SEQUENCE - define a new sequence generator
CREATE SERVER - define a new foreign server
CREATE STATISTICS - define extended statistics
CREATE SUBSCRIPTION - define a new subscription
CREATE TABLE - define a new table
CREATE TABLE AS - define a new table from the results of a query
CREATE TABLESPACE - define a new tablespace
CREATE TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION - define a new text search configuration
CREATE TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY - define a new text search dictionary
CREATE TEXT SEARCH PARSER - define a new text search parser
CREATE TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE - define a new text search template
CREATE TRANSFORM - define a new transform
CREATE TRIGGER - define a new trigger
CREATE TYPE - define a new data type
CREATE USER - define a new database role
CREATE USER MAPPING - define a new mapping of a user to a foreign server
CREATE VIEW - define a new view
DEALLOCATE - deallocate a prepared statement
DECLARE - define a cursor
DELETE - delete rows of a table
DISCARD - discard session state
DO - execute an anonymous code block
DROP ACCESS METHOD - remove an access method
DROP AGGREGATE - remove an aggregate function
DROP CAST - remove a cast
DROP COLLATION - remove a collation
DROP CONVERSION - remove a conversion
DROP DATABASE - remove a database
DROP DOMAIN - remove a domain
DROP EVENT TRIGGER - remove an event trigger
DROP EXTENSION - remove an extension
DROP FOREIGN DATA WRAPPER - remove a foreign-data wrapper
DROP FOREIGN TABLE - remove a foreign table
DROP FUNCTION - remove a function
DROP GROUP - remove a database role
DROP INDEX - remove an index
DROP LANGUAGE - remove a procedural language
DROP MATERIALIZED VIEW - remove a materialized view
DROP OPERATOR - remove an operator
DROP OPERATOR CLASS - remove an operator class
DROP OPERATOR FAMILY - remove an operator family
DROP OWNED - remove database objects owned by a database role
DROP POLICY - remove a row level security policy from a table
DROP PUBLICATION - remove a publication
DROP ROLE - remove a database role
DROP RULE - remove a rewrite rule
DROP SCHEMA - remove a schema
DROP SEQUENCE - remove a sequence
DROP SERVER - remove a foreign server descriptor
DROP STATISTICS - remove extended statistics
DROP SUBSCRIPTION - remove a subscription
DROP TABLE - remove a table
DROP TABLESPACE - remove a tablespace
DROP TEXT SEARCH CONFIGURATION - remove a text search configuration
DROP TEXT SEARCH DICTIONARY - remove a text search dictionary
DROP TEXT SEARCH PARSER - remove a text search parser
DROP TEXT SEARCH TEMPLATE - remove a text search template
DROP TRANSFORM - remove a transform
DROP TRIGGER - remove a trigger
DROP TYPE - remove a data type
DROP USER - remove a database role
DROP USER MAPPING - remove a user mapping for a foreign server
DROP VIEW - remove a view
END - commit the current transaction
EXECUTE - execute a prepared statement
EXPLAIN - show the execution plan of a statement
FETCH - retrieve rows from a query using a cursor
GRANT - define access privileges
IMPORT FOREIGN SCHEMA - import table definitions from a foreign server
INSERT - create new rows in a table
LISTEN - listen for a notification
LOAD - load a shared library file
LOCK - lock a table
MOVE - position a cursor
NOTIFY - generate a notification
PREPARE - prepare a statement for execution
PREPARE TRANSACTION - prepare the current transaction for two-phase commit
REASSIGN OWNED - change the ownership of database objects owned by a database role
REFRESH MATERIALIZED VIEW - replace the contents of a materialized view
REINDEX - rebuild indexes
RELEASE SAVEPOINT - destroy a previously defined savepoint
RESET - restore the value of a run-time parameter to the default value
REVOKE - remove access privileges
ROLLBACK - abort the current transaction
ROLLBACK PREPARED - cancel a transaction that was earlier prepared for two-phase commit
ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT - roll back to a savepoint
SAVEPOINT - define a new savepoint within the current transaction
SECURITY LABEL - define or change a security label applied to an object
SELECT - retrieve rows from a table or view
SELECT INTO - define a new table from the results of a query
SET - change a run-time parameter
SET CONSTRAINTS - set constraint check timing for the current transaction
SET ROLE - set the current user identifier of the current session
SET SESSION AUTHORIZATION - set the session user identifier and the current user identifier of the current session
SET TRANSACTION - set the characteristics of the current transaction
SHOW - show the value of a run-time parameter
START TRANSACTION - start a transaction block
TRUNCATE - empty a table or set of tables
UNLISTEN - stop listening for a notification
UPDATE - update rows of a table
VACUUM - garbage-collect and optionally analyze a database
VALUES - compute a set of rows