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How to generate the "create table" sql statement for an existing table in postgreSQL

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 SQL statement for an existing table in Postgres via commandline or SQL statement?

i keep ending up here and then finally realizing that my gui postgresql client can generate a "create table" statement. (it's available through right-click, contextual menu when focus is on table in question...i'm using SQLPro Studio for Mac...if it helps)

C
Chris Stryczynski
pg_dump -t 'schema-name.table-name' --schema-only database-name

More info - in the manual.


I had to specify database too. pg_dump mydb -t mytable --schema-only.
@Milen A. Radev: Please edit the answer to include the dbname. I spent 5 min trying out variations of that qualified syntaxt(since I wasn't using the default db). Thanks!
I couldn't get this to work, it would only output nothing. Wound up downloading pgAdminIII and using their tool to get me a show-create. I'm surprised postgres doesn't have this functionality without needing to make a dump.
Replace aschema with the actual schema name of the table you want to dump. Replace atable with the actual table name of the table you want to dump.
This works, but if the table name has any uppercase letters in it then you have to wrap the table name with both single and double quotes: pg_dump mydb -t '"TableName"' --schema-only - otherwise pg_dump won't recognise the table name.
P
Peter Krauss

(NOTICE - this solution is not working with PostgreSQL v12+)

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);

Nice, I was looking for a plpgsql-way. The LOOP part is a bit broken though, it generates first column twice and skips last column. I have edited the post to fix this.
Very useful as this also allows you to create a table statement for views :)
"Based on the sql echoed out after running these describe commands" - I don't see any sql output. only column descriptors. am I missing something?
Using generate_create_table_statement('my_table') results in an argument type mismatch. Using generate_create_table_statement(my_table) without the quote results in 'column "my_table" does not exist. Guess is a psql version dependent issue. Any ideas?
Unfortunately, this function only returns NULL for me... And how is the schema handled? Should it return CREATE statements for tables with the specified name from all schemas?
E
Eric Leschinski

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

Create a table for a demo:

CREATE TABLE your_table(
    thekey   integer NOT NULL,  
    ticker   character varying(10) NOT NULL,
    date_val date,
    open_val numeric(10,4) NOT NULL
); 

pg_dump manual, can output the table create psql statement:

pg_dump -U your_user your_database -t your_table --schema-only

Which prints:

-- pre-requisite database and table configuration omitted
CREATE TABLE your_table (
    thekey integer NOT NULL, 
    ticker character varying(10) NOT NULL, 
    date_val date,  
    open_val numeric(10,4) NOT NULL 
); 
-- post-requisite database and table configuration omitted
  

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.

pg_dump is elite C code that tries to play nicely with the evolving sql standards, and takes care of the thousand details that arise between postgresql's query language, and its representation on a disk. If you want to roll your own "psql disk to create statement" arrangement, ye be dragons: https://doxygen.postgresql.org/pg__dump_8c_source.html

Another option to get around pg_dump is to save the table-create SQL statement when you create the table. Keep it somewhere safe and retrieve it when you need it.

Or get the table name, column name and datatype information from postgresql with SQL:

CREATE TABLE your_table(  thekey integer NOT NULL,
                          ticker character varying(10) NOT NULL,
                          date_val date,
                          open_val numeric(10,4) NOT NULL
); 

SELECT table_name, column_name, data_type 
FROM information_schema.columns 
WHERE table_name = 'your_table'; 

Which prints:

┌────────────┬─────────────┬───────────────────┐ 
│ table_name │ column_name │     data_type     │ 
├────────────┼─────────────┼───────────────────┤ 
│ your_table │ thekey      │ integer           │ 
│ your_table │ ticker      │ character varying │ 
│ your_table │ date_val    │ date              │ 
│ your_table │ open_val    │ numeric           │ 
└────────────┴─────────────┴───────────────────┘ 

s
shekwi

If you want to find the create statement for a table without using pg_dump, This query might work for you (change 'tablename' with whatever your table is called):

SELECT                                          
  'CREATE TABLE ' || relname || E'\n(\n' ||
  array_to_string(
    array_agg(
      '    ' || column_name || ' ' ||  type || ' '|| not_null
    )
    , E',\n'
  ) || E'\n);\n'
from
(
  SELECT 
    c.relname, a.attname AS column_name,
    pg_catalog.format_type(a.atttypid, a.atttypmod) as type,
    case 
      when a.attnotnull
    then 'NOT NULL' 
    else 'NULL' 
    END as not_null 
  FROM pg_class c,
   pg_attribute a,
   pg_type t
   WHERE c.relname = 'tablename'
   AND a.attnum > 0
   AND a.attrelid = c.oid
   AND a.atttypid = t.oid
 ORDER BY a.attnum
) as tabledefinition
group by relname;

when called directly from psql, it is usefult to do:

\pset linestyle old-ascii

Also, the function generate_create_table_statement in this thread works very well.


Just out of curiosity, why would you want to do this instead of just using pg_dump?
Hi. My usecase was that I had access to the database, but not the shell. Running pg_dump requires that you have a system user.
yes, however this doesn't produce the permissions and constraints I see at the end of pg_dump. useful all the same +1
Brilliant bit of code, especially for those of us coming from MySQL, using SHOW CREATE TABLE table_name. Additionally, I'm accessing a database with limited permissions, so this is perfect.
Nice, but it doesn't include DEFAULT values.
v
vkkeeper

Dean Toader Just excellent! I'd modify your code a little, to show all constraints in the table and to make possible to use regexp mask in table name.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION public.generate_create_table_statement(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 FROM pg_catalog.pg_class c
            LEFT JOIN pg_catalog.pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.relnamespace
                WHERE relkind = 'r'
                AND relname~ ('^('||p_table_name||')$')
                AND n.nspname <> 'pg_catalog'
                AND n.nspname <> 'information_schema'
                AND n.nspname !~ '^pg_toast'
                AND pg_catalog.pg_table_is_visible(c.oid)
          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.relname = table_rec.relname
                    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;

        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 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;
ALTER FUNCTION public.generate_create_table_statement(character varying)
  OWNER TO postgres;

Now you can, for example, make the following query

SELECT * FROM generate_create_table_statement('.*');

which results like this:

CREATE TABLE public.answer (                                                                        
     id integer DEFAULT nextval('answer_id_seq'::regclass) NOT NULL,                               
     questionid integer  NOT NULL,                                                                  
     title character varying  NOT NULL,                                                             
     defaultvalue character varying  NULL,                                                          
     valuetype integer  NOT NULL,                                                                   
     isdefault boolean  NULL,                                                                       
     minval double precision  NULL,                                                                 
     maxval double precision  NULL,                                                                 
     followminmax integer DEFAULT 0 NOT NULL,                                                       
CONSTRAINT answer_pkey                                                                              
     PRIMARY KEY (id),                                                                              
CONSTRAINT answer_questionid_fkey                                                                  
     FOREIGN KEY (questionid) REFERENCES question(id) ON UPDATE RESTRICT ON DELETE RESTRICT,       
CONSTRAINT answer_valuetype_fkey                                                                   
     FOREIGN KEY (valuetype) REFERENCES answervaluetype(id) ON UPDATE RESTRICT ON DELETE RESTRICT);

for each user table.


This only works for tables that are in the public schema
C
Corin

The easiest method I can think of is to install pgAdmin 3 (found here) and use it to view your database. It will automatically generate a query that will create the table in question.


pgAdmin looks good, but unfortunately I don't have root access to install on the server..
You don't need to install it on the server. Put it on your desktop and then connect it to the server.
T
Tim Tisdall

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

c
cowbert

Here is another solution to the old question. There have been many excellent answers to this question over the years and my attempt borrows heavily from them.

I used Andrey Lebedenko's solution as a starting point because its output was already very close to my requirements.

Features:

following common practice I have moved the foreign key constraints outside the table definition. They are now included as ALTER TABLE statements at the bottom. The reason is that a foreign key can also link to a column of the same table. In that fringe case the constraint can only be created after the table creation is completed. The create table statement would throw an error otherwise.

The layout and indenting looks nicer now (at least to my eye)

Drop command (commented out) in the header of the definition

The solution is offered here as a plpgsql function. The algorithm does however not use any procedural language. The function just wraps one single query that can be used in a pure sql context as well.

removed redundant subqueries

Identifiers are now quoted if they are identical to reserved postgresql language elements

replaced the string concatenation operator || with the appropriate string functions to improve performance, security and readability of the code. Note: the || operator produces NULL if one of the combined strings is NULL. It should only be used when that is the desired behaviour. (check out the usage in the code below for an example)

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION public.wmv_get_table_definition (
    p_schema_name character varying,
    p_table_name character varying
)
    RETURNS SETOF TEXT
    AS $BODY$
BEGIN
    RETURN query 
    WITH table_rec AS (
        SELECT
            c.relname, n.nspname, 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 c.relname LIKE p_table_name
        ORDER BY
            c.relname
    ),
    col_rec AS (
        SELECT
            a.attname AS colname,
            pg_catalog.format_type(a.atttypid, a.atttypmod) AS coltype,
            a.attrelid AS oid,
            ' DEFAULT ' || (
                SELECT
                    pg_catalog.pg_get_expr(d.adbin, d.adrelid)
                FROM
                    pg_catalog.pg_attrdef d
                WHERE
                    d.adrelid = a.attrelid
                    AND d.adnum = a.attnum
                    AND a.atthasdef) AS column_default_value,
            CASE WHEN a.attnotnull = TRUE THEN
                'NOT NULL'
            ELSE
                'NULL'
            END AS column_not_null,
            a.attnum AS attnum
        FROM
            pg_catalog.pg_attribute a
        WHERE
            a.attnum > 0
            AND NOT a.attisdropped
        ORDER BY
            a.attnum
    ),
    con_rec AS (
        SELECT
            conrelid::regclass::text AS relname,
            n.nspname,
            conname,
            pg_get_constraintdef(c.oid) AS condef,
            contype,
            conrelid AS oid
        FROM
            pg_constraint c
            JOIN pg_namespace n ON n.oid = c.connamespace
    ),
    glue AS (
        SELECT
            format( E'-- %1$I.%2$I definition\n\n-- Drop table\n\n-- DROP TABLE IF EXISTS %1$I.%2$I\n\nCREATE TABLE %1$I.%2$I (\n', table_rec.nspname, table_rec.relname) AS top,
            format( E'\n);\n\n\n-- adempiere.wmv_ghgaudit foreign keys\n\n', table_rec.nspname, table_rec.relname) AS bottom,
            oid
        FROM
            table_rec
    ),
    cols AS (
        SELECT
            string_agg(format('    %I %s%s %s', colname, coltype, column_default_value, column_not_null), E',\n') AS lines,
            oid
        FROM
            col_rec
        GROUP BY
            oid
    ),
    constrnt AS (
        SELECT
            string_agg(format('    CONSTRAINT %s %s', con_rec.conname, con_rec.condef), E',\n') AS lines,
            oid
        FROM
            con_rec
        WHERE
            contype <> 'f'
        GROUP BY
            oid
    ),
    frnkey AS (
        SELECT
            string_agg(format('ALTER TABLE %I.%I ADD CONSTRAINT %s %s', nspname, relname, conname, condef), E';\n') AS lines,
            oid
        FROM
            con_rec
        WHERE
            contype = 'f'
        GROUP BY
            oid
    )
    SELECT
        concat(glue.top, cols.lines, E',\n', constrnt.lines, glue.bottom, frnkey.lines, ';')
    FROM
        glue
        JOIN cols ON cols.oid = glue.oid
        LEFT JOIN constrnt ON constrnt.oid = glue.oid
        LEFT JOIN frnkey ON frnkey.oid = glue.oid;
END;
$BODY$
LANGUAGE plpgsql;

It would be great, if the column comments were integrated too (in what db object can one find them?). But Top Job so far!
This is great! my only issue was that it doesn't create the sequences too but that it outside of the question (and the table)
A
Andrey Lebedenko

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;

P
Phil Allen

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;

Bear in mind that indexes may not be included in this one's result.
C
Community

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.


Includes PKs, but doesn't handle DEFAULTs.
B
Bharti

If you have PgAdmin4, then open it. Go to your database--> schema---> table--> right click on table name whose create script you want---> Scripts---> CREATE SCRIPT


S
Sandy Simonton

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.


u
user3662456
pg_dump -h XXXXXXXXXXX.us-west-1.rds.amazonaws.com -U anyuser -t tablename -s

While this code snippet may solve the question, including an explanation really helps to improve the quality of your post. Remember that you are answering the question for readers in the future, and those people might not know the reasons for your code suggestion.
U
Ulad Kasach

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);

H
Heapify

https://i.stack.imgur.com/OAE2y.png


N
Nestor Milyaev

YOu can also use a free DB management tool, such as DBeaver, which allows you to view DDL for the tables, here's an example:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/iZbjW.png


A
Adarsh Singh

Use this and get your output in ddl.out file

~/bin/pg_dump -p 30000 -d <db_name> -U <db_user> --schema=<schema_name> -t <table_name> --schema-only >> /tmp/ddl.out

So this will generate DDL in the path: /tmp/ddl.out


C
Charlie 木匠

A simple solution, in pure single SQL. You get the idea, you may extend it to more attributes you like to show.

with c as (
SELECT table_name, ordinal_position, 
 column_name|| ' ' || data_type col
, row_number() over (partition by table_name order by ordinal_position asc) rn
, count(*) over (partition by table_name) cnt
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE table_name   in ('pg_index', 'pg_tables')
order by table_name, ordinal_position
)
select case when rn = 1 then 'create table ' || table_name || '(' else '' end
 || col 
 || case when rn < cnt then ',' else '); ' end
from c 
order by table_name, rn asc;

Output:

create table pg_index(indexrelid oid,
 indrelid oid,
 indnatts smallint,
 indisunique boolean,
 indisprimary boolean,
 indisexclusion boolean,
 indimmediate boolean,
 indisclustered boolean,
 indisvalid boolean,
 indcheckxmin boolean,
 indisready boolean,
 indislive boolean,
 indisreplident boolean,
 indkey ARRAY,
 indcollation ARRAY,
 indclass ARRAY,
 indoption ARRAY,
 indexprs pg_node_tree,
 indpred pg_node_tree);

 create table pg_tables(schemaname name,
 tablename name,
 tableowner name,
 tablespace name,
 hasindexes boolean,
 hasrules boolean,
 hastriggers boolean,
 rowsecurity boolean);

* Does not handle tables with the same name in multiple schemas * Does not include type lengths
I
Indrajeet Gour

Another easy option was to use [HeidiSQL client][1] for PostgreSQL database.

How to go into the database tab where all the databases and tables are listed.

Click on any of the table/View which you wanted to see the DDL/create a statement of the particular table.

Now there this client do the following jobs for you for that table, on the right-hand side windows:

The first window would be for data of table

Second for your SQL Host information

Third for database-level information like which tables and what is the size

Forth which we are more concern about table/view information tab will have the create table statement readily available for you.

I can not show you in the snapshot as working with confidential data, Try it with yourself and let me know if any issues you guys found.


S
Siddappa Walake

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


S
Sagar Jadhav

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;

P
Prashant K Tiwari

To generate the SQL (DDL) behind the creation of a particular table. We can simply use this SQL query -

SHOW TABLE your_schema_name.your_table_name

Please, add some explanation to your answer.
@YLR It's just a SQL query that one can run to generate the DDL (CREATE TABLE ...) statements, that would have been used for the creation of the table.
The parent question is about PostgreSQL. This answer uses "SHOW TABLE" which is not supported in PostgreSQL.