CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE(7pg15)

📦 version 15.19, in opensuse-leap 16.0

💖 CREATE FOREIGN TABLE 💖

okay so bestie, this is CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE(7) straight from the PostgreSQL 15.19 docs — and it's giving define a new foreign table energy. No cap, we're gonna keep every detail intact, just with way more sparkle. 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

CREATE_FOREIGN_TABLE — define a new foreign table. periodt.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

CREATE FOREIGN TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] table_name ( [
  { column_name data_type [ OPTIONS ( option 'value' [, ... ] ) ] [ COLLATE collation ] [ column_constraint [ ... ] ]
    | table_constraint }
  [, ... ]
] )
[ INHERITS ( parent_table [, ... ] ) ]
  SERVER server_name
[ OPTIONS ( option 'value' [, ... ] ) ]

CREATE FOREIGN TABLE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] table_name
  PARTITION OF parent_table [ (
  { column_name [ WITH OPTIONS ] [ column_constraint [ ... ] ]
    | table_constraint }
  [, ... ]
) ]
{ FOR VALUES partition_bound_spec | DEFAULT }
  SERVER server_name
[ OPTIONS ( option 'value' [, ... ] ) ]

where column_constraint is:

[ CONSTRAINT constraint_name ]
{ NOT NULL |
  NULL |
  CHECK ( expression ) [ NO INHERIT ] |
  DEFAULT default_expr |
  GENERATED ALWAYS AS ( generation_expr ) STORED }

and table_constraint is:

[ CONSTRAINT constraint_name ]
CHECK ( expression ) [ NO INHERIT ]

and partition_bound_spec is:

IN ( partition_bound_expr [, ...] ) |
FROM ( { partition_bound_expr | MINVALUE | MAXVALUE } [, ...] )
  TO ( { partition_bound_expr | MINVALUE | MAXVALUE } [, ...] ) |
WITH ( MODULUS numeric_literal, REMAINDER numeric_literal )

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

okay so CREATE FOREIGN TABLE creates a new foreign table in the current database. The table will be owned by the user issuing the command.

If a schema name is given (for example, CREATE FOREIGN TABLE myschema.mytable ...) then the table is created in the specified schema. Otherwise it is created in the current schema. The name of the foreign table must be distinct from the name of any other relation (table, sequence, index, view, materialized view, or foreign table) in the same schema.

CREATE FOREIGN TABLE also automatically creates a data type that represents the composite type corresponding to one row of the foreign table. Therefore, foreign tables cannot have the same name as any existing data type in the same schema. like, the name has to be free in both worlds, bestie.

If PARTITION OF clause is specified then the table is created as a partition of parent_table with specified bounds.

To be able to create a foreign table, you must have USAGE privilege on the foreign server, as well as USAGE privilege on all column types used in the table. permissions check, slay.

🎀 PARAMETERS 🎀

  • IF NOT EXISTS — do not throw an error if a relation with the same name already exists. A notice is issued in this case. Note that there is no guarantee that the existing relation is anything like the one that would have been created. 💀
  • table_name — the name (optionally schema-qualified) of the table to be created.
  • column_name — the name of a column to be created in the new table.
  • data_type — the data type of the column. This can include array specifiers. For more information on the data types supported by PostgreSQL, refer to Chapter 8.
  • COLLATE collation — the COLLATE clause assigns a collation to the column (which must be of a collatable data type). If not specified, the column data type's default collation is used. 🎀
  • INHERITS ( parent_table [, ... ] ) — the optional INHERITS clause specifies a list of tables from which the new foreign table automatically inherits all columns. Parent tables can be plain tables or foreign tables. See the similar form of CREATE TABLE for more details.
  • PARTITION OF parent_table { FOR VALUES partition_bound_spec | DEFAULT } — this form can be used to create the foreign table as partition of the given parent table with specified partition bound values. See the similar form of CREATE TABLE for more details. Note that it is currently not allowed to create the foreign table as a partition of the parent table if there are UNIQUE indexes on the parent table. (See also ALTER TABLE ATTACH PARTITION.)
  • CONSTRAINT constraint_name — an optional name for a column or table constraint. If the constraint is violated, the constraint name is present in error messages, so constraint names like col must be positive can be used to communicate helpful constraint information to client applications. (Double-quotes are needed to specify constraint names that contain spaces.) If a constraint name is not specified, the system generates a name. iykyk, naming things is self-care.
  • NOT NULL — the column is not allowed to contain null values.
  • NULL — the column is allowed to contain null values. This is the default. This clause is only provided for compatibility with non-standard SQL databases. Its use is discouraged in new applications. it's giving legacy compatibility, bestie.
  • CHECK ( expression ) [ NO INHERIT ] — the CHECK clause specifies an expression producing a Boolean result which each row in the foreign table is expected to satisfy; that is, the expression should produce TRUE or UNKNOWN, never FALSE, for all rows in the foreign table. A check constraint specified as a column constraint should reference that column's value only, while an expression appearing in a table constraint can reference multiple columns.

Currently, CHECK expressions cannot contain subqueries nor refer to variables other than columns of the current row. The system column tableoid may be referenced, but not any other system column.

A constraint marked with NO INHERIT will not propagate to child tables.

  • DEFAULT default_expr — the DEFAULT clause assigns a default data value for the column whose column definition it appears within. The value is any variable-free expression (subqueries and cross-references to other columns in the current table are not allowed). The data type of the default expression must match the data type of the column.

The default expression will be used in any insert operation that does not specify a value for the column. If there is no default for a column, then the default is null.

  • GENERATED ALWAYS AS ( generation_expr ) STORED — this clause creates the column as a generated column. The column cannot be written to, and when read the result of the specified expression will be returned.

The keyword STORED is required to signify that the column will be computed on write. (The computed value will be presented to the foreign-data wrapper for storage and must be returned on reading.)

The generation expression can refer to other columns in the table, but not other generated columns. Any functions and operators used must be immutable. References to other tables are not allowed. 🔥

  • server_name — the name of an existing foreign server to use for the foreign table. For details on defining a server, see CREATE SERVER (CREATE_SERVER(7)).
  • OPTIONS ( option 'value' [, ...] ) — options to be associated with the new foreign table or one of its columns. The allowed option names and values are specific to each foreign data wrapper and are validated using the foreign-data wrapper's validator function. Duplicate option names are not allowed (although it's OK for a table option and a column option to have the same name). 🦋

🦋 NOTES 🦋

Constraints on foreign tables (such as CHECK or NOT NULL clauses) are not enforced by the core PostgreSQL system, and most foreign data wrappers do not attempt to enforce them either; that is, the constraint is simply assumed to hold true. There would be little point in such enforcement since it would only apply to rows inserted or updated via the foreign table, and not to rows modified by other means, such as directly on the remote server. Instead, a constraint attached to a foreign table should represent a constraint that is being enforced by the remote server. so like, it's a vibe contract, not a core-Postgres guarantee.

Some special-purpose foreign data wrappers might be the only access mechanism for the data they access, and in that case it might be appropriate for the foreign data wrapper itself to perform constraint enforcement. But you should not assume that a wrapper does that unless its documentation says so. 🙈

Although PostgreSQL does not attempt to enforce constraints on foreign tables, it does assume that they are correct for purposes of query optimization. If there are rows visible in the foreign table that do not satisfy a declared constraint, queries on the table might produce errors or incorrect answers. It is the user's responsibility to ensure that the constraint definition matches reality. bestie, please make it match reality.

⚠️ Caution ⚠️

When a foreign table is used as a partition of a partitioned table, there is an implicit constraint that its contents must satisfy the partitioning rule. Again, it is the user's responsibility to ensure that that is true, which is best done by installing a matching constraint on the remote server.

Within a partitioned table containing foreign-table partitions, an UPDATE that changes the partition key value can cause a row to be moved from a local partition to a foreign-table partition, provided the foreign data wrapper supports tuple routing. However, it is not currently possible to move a row from a foreign-table partition to another partition. An UPDATE that would require doing that will fail due to the partitioning constraint, assuming that that is properly enforced by the remote server. 💀

Similar considerations apply to generated columns. Stored generated columns are computed on insert or update on the local PostgreSQL server and handed to the foreign-data wrapper for writing out to the foreign data store, but it is not enforced that a query of the foreign table returns values for stored generated columns that are consistent with the generation expression. Again, this might result in incorrect query results. generated column tea: computed locally, trusted remotely, no extra enforcement.

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Create foreign table films, which will be accessed through the server film_server:

CREATE FOREIGN TABLE films (
    code        char(5) NOT NULL,
    title       varchar(40) NOT NULL,
    did         integer NOT NULL,
    date_prod   date,
    kind        varchar(10),
    len         interval hour to minute
)
SERVER film_server;

Create foreign table measurement_y2016m07, which will be accessed through the server server_07, as a partition of the range partitioned table measurement:

CREATE FOREIGN TABLE measurement_y2016m07
    PARTITION OF measurement FOR VALUES FROM ('2016-07-01') TO ('2016-08-01')
    SERVER server_07;

💖 COMPATIBILITY 💖

Okay so the tea on standards compliance ☕ — CREATE FOREIGN TABLE largely conforms to the SQL standard, bestie. Like, mostly. Slay. ✨

But however — and this is the fun part — much as with CREATE TABLE, NULL constraints and zero-column foreign tables are permitted. Yep, you read that right, a table with zero columns. It's giving minimalist. It's giving nothing to see here. Iconic behavior, no notes. 💅

Also on the extensions list: the ability to specify column default values is also a PostgreSQL extension. So if you're out here setting defaults on your foreign table columns, know that's a you-and-Postgres thing, not a standard thing. 🫶

And table inheritance, in the form defined by PostgreSQL — nonstandard. Full stop. It's a Postgres original, iykyk. 🦋

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Go read these next, bestie, they're literally the whole ecosystem 🎀:

Go check the links, hydrate, and don't forget your NULL constraints ✨

And that's a wrap, bestie!! 🎀 This glorious little page is from PostgreSQL 15.19, dated 2026, and it's filed under CREATE FOREIGN TABLE(7) forever and ever. Slay, document, slay. 🌈💖🦋💅

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