What is SQL Copy Table?

SQL Copy Table, as the name suggests, is a SQL operation that allows you to clone the data from one table into another. It's a powerful mechanism that maintains the structure of the source table while transferring its content to a destination table. This is immensely useful in various scenarios, from creating backups to consolidating data from multiple sources.

The SELECT INTO Statement

At the core of SQL Copy Table lies the SELECT INTO statement. This statement acts as the bridge between your source and destination tables. Here's the syntax to get you started:

SELECT * INTO DestinationTableName FROM SourceTableName;

This single line of SQL code is all you need to copy a table. But let's dive deeper and understand how it works through real-world examples.

Example 1: Copying Students Data

Imagine you have a table called "Students" with columns like Student Name, Student Id, and Marks. You want to duplicate this data into a new table called "Student_Details." Here's how you do it:

SELECT * INTO Student_Details FROM Students;

It's as simple as that! The Student_Details table now holds an identical copy of the data from the Students table.

Example 2: Replicating Employee Records

Let's say you have an "Employee" table with columns like Emp_Id, Emp_Name, Emp_Salary, and Emp_City. You wish to create a new table named "Coding_Employees" containing the same records. Here's how:

SELECT * INTO Coding_Employees FROM Employee;

The Coding_Employees table now mirrors the Employee table, maintaining the structure and content.

Selective Copying

What if you don't need to copy all columns? SQL Copy Table allows you to select specific columns for duplication. For instance, let's copy only the Car_Name and Car_Color columns from the "Cars" table into a new table "Car_Color":

SELECT Car_Name, Car_Color INTO Car_Color FROM Cars;

Adding Conditions with WHERE Clause

Sometimes, you need to copy data based on specific conditions. SQL Copy Table can do that too. Consider this example where we copy only the cars with the color "Black" from the "Cars" table into a new table "Black_Car_Details":

SELECT * INTO Black_Car_Details FROM Cars WHERE Car_Color = 'Black';

Now, the "Black_Car_Details" table contains only the black cars from the source table.