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SQL•SQL Database

SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

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SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

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The SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

The CREATE TABLE

statement is used to create a new table in a database.

Syntax

Create Table

table_name ( column1 datatype constraint, column2 datatype constraint, column3 datatype constraint,....

);

The table_name parameter specifies the name of the new table. The column1, column2, ... parameters specify the names of the columns within the table. The datatype parameter specifies the data type of each column (e.g. varchar, int, date, etc.). The constraint parameter is optional, and specifies rules for data integrity (e.g. primary key, not null, etc.).

Tip:

Learn more about constraints in our

SQL Constraints chapter.

Tip:

For an overview of the available data types, go to our complete Data Types Reference.

CREATE TABLE Example

The following example creates a table named "Persons" with five columns:

Example

CREATE TABLE Persons

( PersonID int PRIMARY KEY, LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255), Address varchar(255),

City varchar(255)

);

Example Explained:

PersonID

This column is of type integer (int). This is also the PRIMARY KEY field, that uniquely identifies each row.

LastName

This column is a variable-length character string with a maximum length of 255 characters (varchar(255)). NOT NULL specifies that this column cannot be empty. FirstName, Address, City - These columns are also variable-length character strings with a maximum length of 255 characters (varchar(255)). These columns allow NULL values by default. The empty "Persons" table will now look like this:

PersonID

LastName

FirstName

Address

City

Tip:

The empty "Persons" table can now be filled with data, with the INSERT INTO

statement.

Create New Table From Existing Table

The CREATE TABLE

Formula

statement can also be used to create a new table that copies some/all data from an existing table.
If you create a new table from an existing table, the new table will be filled with the values from the existing table.

Syntax

Create Table

new_table

SQL BACKUP DATABASE Statement

SQL DROP TABLE Statement

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Learn/SQL/SQL Database

SQL•SQL Database

SQL CREATE TABLE Statement

Concept visual