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

My solution is to log in to the postgres db using psql with the -E option as follows:

psql -E -U username -d database   

In psql, run the following commands to see the sql that postgres uses to generate
the describe table statement:

-- List all tables in the schema (my example schema name is public)
\dt public.*
-- Choose a table name from above
-- For create table of one public.tablename
\d+ public.tablename  

Based on the sql echoed out after running these describe commands, I was able to put together
the following plpgsql function:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION generate_create_table_statement(p_table_name varchar)
  RETURNS text AS
$BODY$
DECLARE
    v_table_ddl   text;
    column_record record;
BEGIN
    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.relname ~ ('^('||p_table_name||')$')
                AND pg_catalog.pg_table_is_visible(c.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;

    v_table_ddl:=v_table_ddl||');';
    RETURN v_table_ddl;
END;
$BODY$
  LANGUAGE 'plpgsql' COST 100.0 SECURITY INVOKER;

Here is the function usage:

SELECT generate_create_table_statement('tablename');

And here is the drop statement if you don't want this function to persist permanently:

DROP FUNCTION generate_create_table_statement(p_table_name varchar);

Answer 2

Here is a single statement that will generate the DDL for a single table in a specified schema, including constraints.

SELECT 'CREATE TABLE ' || pn.nspname || '.' || pc.relname || E'(\n' ||
   string_agg(pa.attname || ' ' || pg_catalog.format_type(pa.atttypid, pa.atttypmod) || coalesce(' DEFAULT ' || (
                                                                                                               SELECT pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid)
                                                                                                               FROM pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
                                                                                                               WHERE d.adrelid = pa.attrelid
                                                                                                                 AND d.adnum = pa.attnum
                                                                                                                 AND pa.atthasdef
                                                                                                               ),
                                                                                                 '') || ' ' ||
              CASE pa.attnotnull
                  WHEN TRUE THEN 'NOT NULL'
                  ELSE 'NULL'
              END, E',\n') ||
   coalesce((SELECT E',\n' || string_agg('CONSTRAINT ' || pc1.conname || ' ' || pg_get_constraintdef(pc1.oid), E',\n' ORDER BY pc1.conindid)
            FROM pg_constraint pc1
            WHERE pc1.conrelid = pa.attrelid), '') ||
   E');'
FROM pg_catalog.pg_attribute pa
JOIN pg_catalog.pg_class pc
    ON pc.oid = pa.attrelid
    AND pc.relname = 'table_name'
JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace pn
    ON pn.oid = pc.relnamespace
    AND pn.nspname = 'schema_name'
WHERE pa.attnum > 0
    AND NOT pa.attisdropped
GROUP BY pn.nspname, pc.relname, pa.attrelid;

Answer 3

This is the variation that works for me:

pg_dump -U user_viktor -h localhost unit_test_database -t floorplanpreferences_table --schema-only

In addition, if you're using schemas, you'll of course need to specify that as well:

pg_dump -U user_viktor -h localhost unit_test_database -t "949766e0-e81e-11e3-b325-1cc1de32fcb6".floorplanpreferences_table --schema-only

You will get an output that you can use to create the table again, just run that output in psql.

Answer 4

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);

Answer 5

If you want to do this for various tables at once, you meed to use the -t switch multiple times (took me a while to figure out why comma separated list wasn't working). Also, can be useful to send results to an outfile or pipe to a postgres server on another machine

pg_dump -t table1 -t table2 database_name --schema-only > dump.sql

pg_dump -t table1 -t table2 database_name --schema-only | psql -h server_name database_name

Answer 6

In pgadminIII database>>schemas>>tables>> right click on 'Your table'>>scripts>> 'Select any one (Create,Insert,Update,Delete..)'