How to generate the “create table” sql statement for an existing table in postgreSQL

Question

I have created a table in postgreSQL. I want to look at the SQL statement used to create the table but cannot figure it out.

How do I get the create table

Answer 1

Like the other answers mentioned, there is no built in function that does this.

Here is a function that attempts to get all of the information that would be needed to replicate the table - or to compare deployed and checked in ddl.

This function outputs:

• columns (w/ precision, null/not-null, default value)
• constraints
• indexes

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION public.show_create_table(
  in_schema_name varchar,
  in_table_name varchar
)
RETURNS text
LANGUAGE plpgsql VOLATILE
AS
$$
  DECLARE
    -- the ddl we're building
    v_table_ddl text;

    -- data about the target table
    v_table_oid int;

    -- records for looping
    v_column_record record;
    v_constraint_record record;
    v_index_record record;
  BEGIN
    -- grab the oid of the table; https://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/catalog-pg-class.html
    SELECT c.oid INTO v_table_oid
    FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
    LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
    WHERE 1=1
      AND c.relkind = 'r' -- r = ordinary table; https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.3/catalog-pg-class.html
      AND c.relname = in_table_name -- the table name
      AND n.nspname = in_schema_name; -- the schema

    -- throw an error if table was not found
    IF (v_table_oid IS NULL) THEN
      RAISE EXCEPTION 'table does not exist';
    END IF;

    -- start the create definition
    v_table_ddl := 'CREATE TABLE ' || in_schema_name || '.' || in_table_name || ' (' || E'\n';

    -- define all of the columns in the table; https://stackoverflow.com/a/8153081/3068233
    FOR v_column_record IN
      SELECT
        c.column_name,
        c.data_type,
        c.character_maximum_length,
        c.is_nullable,
        c.column_default
      FROM information_schema.columns c
      WHERE (table_schema, table_name) = (in_schema_name, in_table_name)
      ORDER BY ordinal_position
    LOOP
      v_table_ddl := v_table_ddl || '  ' -- note: two char spacer to start, to indent the column
        || v_column_record.column_name || ' '
        || v_column_record.data_type || CASE WHEN v_column_record.character_maximum_length IS NOT NULL THEN ('(' || v_column_record.character_maximum_length || ')') ELSE '' END || ' '
        || CASE WHEN v_column_record.is_nullable = 'NO' THEN 'NOT NULL' ELSE 'NULL' END
        || CASE WHEN v_column_record.column_default IS NOT null THEN (' DEFAULT ' || v_column_record.column_default) ELSE '' END
        || ',' || E'\n';
    END LOOP;

    -- define all the constraints in the; https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.1/catalog-pg-constraint.html && https://dba.stackexchange.com/a/214877/75296
    FOR v_constraint_record IN
      SELECT
        con.conname as constraint_name,
        con.contype as constraint_type,
        CASE
          WHEN con.contype = 'p' THEN 1 -- primary key constraint
          WHEN con.contype = 'u' THEN 2 -- unique constraint
          WHEN con.contype = 'f' THEN 3 -- foreign key constraint
          WHEN con.contype = 'c' THEN 4
          ELSE 5
        END as type_rank,
        pg_get_constraintdef(con.oid) as constraint_definition
      FROM pg_catalog.pg_constraint con
      JOIN pg_catalog.pg_class rel ON rel.oid = con.conrelid
      JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace nsp ON nsp.oid = connamespace
      WHERE nsp.nspname = in_schema_name
      AND rel.relname = in_table_name
      ORDER BY type_rank
    LOOP
      v_table_ddl := v_table_ddl || '  ' -- note: two char spacer to start, to indent the column
        || 'CONSTRAINT' || ' '
        || v_constraint_record.constraint_name || ' '
        || v_constraint_record.constraint_definition
        || ',' || E'\n';
    END LOOP;

    -- drop the last comma before ending the create statement
    v_table_ddl = substr(v_table_ddl, 0, length(v_table_ddl) - 1) || E'\n';

    -- end the create definition
    v_table_ddl := v_table_ddl || ');' || E'\n';

    -- suffix create statement with all of the indexes on the table
    FOR v_index_record IN
      SELECT indexdef
      FROM pg_indexes
      WHERE (schemaname, tablename) = (in_schema_name, in_table_name)
    LOOP
      v_table_ddl := v_table_ddl
        || v_index_record.indexdef
        || ';' || E'\n';
    END LOOP;

    -- return the ddl
    RETURN v_table_ddl;
  END;
$$;

example

SELECT * FROM public.show_create_table('public', 'example_table');

produces

CREATE TABLE public.example_table (
  id bigint NOT NULL DEFAULT nextval('test_tb_for_show_create_on_id_seq'::regclass),
  name character varying(150) NULL,
  level character varying(50) NULL,
  description text NOT NULL DEFAULT 'hello there!'::text,
  CONSTRAINT test_tb_for_show_create_on_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id),
  CONSTRAINT test_tb_for_show_create_on_level_check CHECK (((level)::text = ANY ((ARRAY['info'::character varying, 'warn'::character varying, 'error'::character varying])::text[])))
);
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX test_tb_for_show_create_on_pkey ON public.test_tb_for_show_create_on USING btree (id);