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

Even more modification based on response from @vkkeeper. Added possibility to query table from the specific schema.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION public.describe_table(p_schema_name character varying, p_table_name character varying)
  RETURNS SETOF text AS
$BODY$
DECLARE
    v_table_ddl   text;
    column_record record;
    table_rec record;
    constraint_rec record;
    firstrec boolean;
BEGIN
    FOR table_rec IN
        SELECT c.relname, c.oid FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
            LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
                WHERE relkind = 'r'
                AND n.nspname = p_schema_name
                AND relname~ ('^('||p_table_name||')$')
          ORDER BY c.relname
    LOOP
        FOR column_record IN
            SELECT
                b.nspname as schema_name,
                b.relname as table_name,
                a.attname as column_name,
                pg_catalog.format_type(a.atttypid, a.atttypmod) as column_type,
                CASE WHEN
                    (SELECT substring(pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid) for 128)
                     FROM pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
                     WHERE d.adrelid = a.attrelid AND d.adnum = a.attnum AND a.atthasdef) IS NOT NULL THEN
                    'DEFAULT '|| (SELECT substring(pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid) for 128)
                                  FROM pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
                                  WHERE d.adrelid = a.attrelid AND d.adnum = a.attnum AND a.atthasdef)
                ELSE
                    ''
                END as column_default_value,
                CASE WHEN a.attnotnull = true THEN
                    'NOT NULL'
                ELSE
                    'NULL'
                END as column_not_null,
                a.attnum as attnum,
                e.max_attnum as max_attnum
            FROM
                pg_catalog.pg_attribute a
                INNER JOIN
                 (SELECT c.oid,
                    n.nspname,
                    c.relname
                  FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
                       LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
                  WHERE c.oid = table_rec.oid
                  ORDER BY 2, 3) b
                ON a.attrelid = b.oid
                INNER JOIN
                 (SELECT
                      a.attrelid,
                      max(a.attnum) as max_attnum
                  FROM pg_catalog.pg_attribute a
                  WHERE a.attnum > 0
                    AND NOT a.attisdropped
                  GROUP BY a.attrelid) e
                ON a.attrelid=e.attrelid
            WHERE a.attnum > 0
              AND NOT a.attisdropped
            ORDER BY a.attnum
        LOOP
            IF column_record.attnum = 1 THEN
                v_table_ddl:='CREATE TABLE '||column_record.schema_name||'.'||column_record.table_name||' (';
            ELSE
                v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||',';
            END IF;

            IF column_record.attnum <= column_record.max_attnum THEN
                v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||chr(10)||
                         '    '||column_record.column_name||' '||column_record.column_type||' '||column_record.column_default_value||' '||column_record.column_not_null;
            END IF;
        END LOOP;

        firstrec := TRUE;
        FOR constraint_rec IN
            SELECT conname, pg_get_constraintdef(c.oid) as constrainddef
                FROM pg_constraint c
                    WHERE conrelid=(
                        SELECT attrelid FROM pg_attribute
                        WHERE attrelid = (
                            SELECT oid FROM pg_class WHERE relname = table_rec.relname
                                AND relnamespace = (SELECT ns.oid FROM pg_namespace ns WHERE ns.nspname = p_schema_name)
                        ) AND attname='tableoid'
                    )
        LOOP
            v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||','||chr(10);
            v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||'CONSTRAINT '||constraint_rec.conname;
            v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||chr(10)||'    '||constraint_rec.constrainddef;
            firstrec := FALSE;
        END LOOP;
        v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||');';
        RETURN NEXT v_table_ddl;
    END LOOP;
END;
$BODY$
  LANGUAGE plpgsql VOLATILE
  COST 100;

Answer 2

Here is a query with some edits,

select 'CREATE TABLE ' || a.attrelid::regclass::text || '(' ||
string_agg(a.attname || ' ' || pg_catalog.format_type(a.atttypid, 
a.atttypmod)||
        CASE WHEN 
            (SELECT substring(pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid) for 128)
             FROM pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
             WHERE d.adrelid = a.attrelid AND d.adnum = a.attnum AND a.atthasdef) IS NOT NULL THEN
            ' DEFAULT '|| (SELECT substring(pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid) for 128)
                          FROM pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
                          WHERE d.adrelid = a.attrelid AND d.adnum = a.attnum AND a.atthasdef)
        ELSE
            '' END
||
        CASE WHEN a.attnotnull = true THEN 
            ' NOT NULL'
        ELSE
            '' END,E'\n,') || ');' 
FROM pg_catalog.pg_attribute a join pg_class on a.attrelid=pg_class.oid
WHERE a.attrelid::regclass::varchar =  
'TABLENAME_with_or_without_schema'
AND a.attnum > 0 AND NOT a.attisdropped  and pg_class.relkind='r'
group by a.attrelid;

Answer 3

pg_dump -h XXXXXXXXXXX.us-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com -U anyuser -t tablename -s

Answer 4

Generate the create table statement for a table in postgresql from linux commandline:

This statement outputs the table create sql statement for me:

pg_dump -U your_db_user_name your_database -t your_table_name --schema-only

Explanation:

pg_dump helps us get information about the database itself. -U stands for username. My pgadmin user has no password set, so I don't have to put in a password. The -t option means specify for one table. --schema-only means print only data about the table, and not the data in the table. Here is the exact command I use:

pg_dump -U pgadmin kurz_prod -t fact_stock_info --schema-only

Answer 5

pg_dump -t 'schema-name.table-name' --schema-only database-name

More info - in the manual.

Answer 6

Here is a bit improved version of shekwi's query.
It generates the primary key constraint and is able to handle temporary tables:

with pkey as
(
    select cc.conrelid, format(E',
    constraint %I primary key(%s)', cc.conname,
        string_agg(a.attname, ', ' 
            order by array_position(cc.conkey, a.attnum))) pkey
    from pg_catalog.pg_constraint cc
        join pg_catalog.pg_class c on c.oid = cc.conrelid
        join pg_catalog.pg_attribute a on a.attrelid = cc.conrelid 
            and a.attnum = any(cc.conkey)
    where cc.contype = 'p'
    group by cc.conrelid, cc.conname
)
select format(E'create %stable %s%I\n(\n%s%s\n);\n',
    case c.relpersistence when 't' then 'temporary ' else '' end,
    case c.relpersistence when 't' then '' else n.nspname || '.' end,
    c.relname,
    string_agg(
        format(E'\t%I %s%s',
            a.attname,
            pg_catalog.format_type(a.atttypid, a.atttypmod),
            case when a.attnotnull then ' not null' else '' end
        ), E',\n'
        order by a.attnum
    ),
    (select pkey from pkey where pkey.conrelid = c.oid)) as sql
from pg_catalog.pg_class c
    join pg_catalog.pg_namespace n on n.oid = c.relnamespace
    join pg_catalog.pg_attribute a on a.attrelid = c.oid and a.attnum > 0
    join pg_catalog.pg_type t on a.atttypid = t.oid
where c.relname = :table_name
group by c.oid, c.relname, c.relpersistence, n.nspname;

Use table_name parameter to specify the name of the table.