redhat man page for select_into

SELECT 
INTO(7)							   SQL Commands 						    SELECT INTO(7)

NAME
       SELECT INTO - create a new table from the results of a query

SYNOPSIS
       SELECT [ ALL | DISTINCT [ ON ( expression [, ...] ) ] ]
	   * | expression [ AS output_name ] [, ...]
	   INTO [ TEMPORARY | TEMP ] [ TABLE ] new_table
	   [ FROM from_item [, ...] ]
	   [ WHERE condition ]
	   [ GROUP BY expression [, ...] ]
	   [ HAVING condition [, ...] ]
	   [ { UNION | INTERSECT | EXCEPT } [ ALL ] select ]
	   [ ORDER BY expression [ ASC | DESC | USING operator ] [, ...] ]
	   [ LIMIT { count | ALL } ]
	   [ OFFSET start ]
	   [ FOR UPDATE [ OF tablename [, ...] ] ]

   INPUTS
       TEMPORARY

       TEMP   If specified, the table is created as a temporary table.	Refer to CREATE TABLE [create_table(7)] for details.

       new_table
	      The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.

       All other inputs are described in detail for SELECT [select(7)].

   OUTPUTS
       Refer to CREATE TABLE [create_table(7)] and SELECT [select(7)] for a summary of possible output messages.

DESCRIPTION
       SELECT  INTO creates a new table and fills it with data computed by a query. The data is not returned to the client, as it is with a normal
       SELECT. The new table's columns have the names and data types associated with the output columns of the SELECT.

	      Note: CREATE TABLE AS [create_table_as(7)] is functionally equivalent to SELECT INTO.  CREATE TABLE AS is  the  recommended  syntax,
	      since SELECT INTO is not standard. In fact, this form of SELECT INTO is not available in PL/pgSQL or ecpg(1), because they interpret
	      the INTO clause differently.

COMPATIBILITY
       SQL92 uses SELECT ... INTO to represent selecting values into scalar variables of a host program, rather than creating a  new  table.  This
       indeed  is  the	usage  found in PL/pgSQL and ecpg(1).  The PostgreSQL usage of SELECT INTO to represent table creation is historical. It's
       best to use CREATE TABLE AS for this purpose in new code.  (CREATE TABLE AS isn't standard either, but it's less  likely  to  cause  confu-
       sion.)

SQL - Language Statements					    2002-11-22							    SELECT INTO(7)