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CREATE
NAME
CREATE DOMAIN - define a new domain
SYNOPSIS
CREATE DOMAIN name [AS] data_type
[ DEFAULT expression ]
[ constraint [ ... ] ]
where constraint is:
[ CONSTRAINT constraint_name ]
{ NOT NULL | NULL | CHECK (expression) }
DESCRIPTION
CREATE DOMAIN creates a new data domain. The user who defines a domain
becomes its owner.
If a schema name is given (for example, CREATE DOMAIN myschema.mydomain
...) then the domain is created in the specified schema. Otherwise it is
created in the current schema. The domain name must be unique among the
types and domains existing in its schema.
Domains are useful for abstracting common fields between tables into a
single location for maintenance. For example, an email address column may
be used in several tables, all with the same properties. Define a domain
and use that rather than setting up each table's constraints individually.
PARAMETERS
name The name (optionally schema-qualified) of a domain to be created.
data_type
The underlying data type of the domain. This may include array
specifiers.
DEFAULT expression
The DEFAULT clause specifies a default value for columns of the domain
data type. The value is any variable-free expression (but subqueries
are not allowed). The data type of the default expression must match
the data type of the domain. If no default value is specified, then
the default value is the null value.
The default expression will be used in any insert operation that does
not specify a value for the column. If a default value is defined for
a particular column, it overrides any default associated with the
domain. In turn, the domain default overrides any default value
associated with the underlying data type.
CONSTRAINT constraint_name
An optional name for a constraint. If not specified, the system
generates a name.
NOT NULL
Values of this domain are not allowed to be null.
NULL Values of this domain are allowed to be null. This is the default.
This clause is only intended for compatibility with nonstandard SQL
databases. Its use is discouraged in new applications.
CHECK (expression)
CHECK clauses specify integrity constraints or tests which values of
the domain must satisfy. Each constraint must be an expression
producing a Boolean result. It should use the name VALUE to refer to
the value being tested.
Currently, CHECK expressions cannot contain subqueries nor refer to
variables other than VALUE.
EXAMPLES
This example creates the us_postal_code data type and then uses the type in
a table definition. A regular expression test is used to verify that the
value looks like a valid US postal code.
CREATE DOMAIN us_postal_code AS TEXT
CHECK(
VALUE ~ '^\d{5}$'
OR VALUE ~ '^\d{5}-\d{4}$'
);
CREATE TABLE us_snail_addy (
address_id SERIAL NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY
, street1 TEXT NOT NULL
, street2 TEXT
, street3 TEXT
, city TEXT NOT NULL
, postal us_postal_code NOT NULL
);
COMPATIBILITY
The command CREATE DOMAIN conforms to the SQL standard.
SEE ALSO
ALTER DOMAIN [alter_domain(5)], DROP DOMAIN [drop_domain(l)]
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Index for Section DOMAIN |
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