SQL Create Table

You create a table using the CREATE TABLE command.

SQL syntax

Code
CREATE TABLE table_name (column_name_1 datatype, column_name_2 datatype, ... )

Example

Code
CREATE TABLE Individual (IndividualId int, FirstName Varchar(255), LastName Varchar(255), UserName Char(10) )

Result

This results in an empty table. You can now use an INSERT statement to add data to the table.

IndividualId	FirstName	LastName	UserName

Data Types

You'll notice we explicitly stated the data type in our CREATE TABLE statement. This is because, when you create a column, you need to tell the database what type of data it can hold.

The exact data types and how they are expressed differs with each database system and vendor, but you'll find that generally, there will be support for fixed length strings (eg char), variable length strings (eg varchar), date/time values (eg datetime), numbers and integers (eg, bigint, int, smallint, tinyint, numeric).

The following base data types are available in SQL Server 2000.

bigint	Binary	bit	char	cursor
datetime	Decimal	float	image	int
money	Nchar	ntext	nvarchar	real
smalldatetime	Smallint	smallmoney	text	timestamp
tinyint	Varbinary	Varchar	uniqueidentifier

You may need to consult your database system's documentation if you're unsure of which data type to use or how it is expressed in that system.

Next, we learn how to create an index for our table with the CREATE INDEX command.

• << Create Database
• Create Index >>

Enjoy this page?

2. Link to this page (copy/paste into your own website or blog):
   <a href="http://www.quackit.com/sql/tutorial/sql_create_table.cfm">SQL Create Table</a> from Quackit.com
3. Link to Quackit using one of these banner ads.

Thanks for supporting Quackit!