Creating Tables

CREATE TABLE creates a table in the Vertica logical schema. For example:

=> CREATE TABLE orders(
	orderkey    INT,
	custkey     INT,
	prodkey     ARRAY[VARCHAR(10)],
	orderprices ARRAY[DECIMAL(12,2)],
	orderdate   DATE
);

See CREATE TABLE for important restrictions on defining columns.

Table Data Storage

Unlike traditional databases that store data in tables, Vertica physically stores table data in projections, which are collections of table columns. Projections store data in a format that optimizes query execution. Similar to materialized views, they store result sets on disk rather than compute them each time they are used in a query.

In order to query or perform any operation on a Vertica table, the table must have one or more projections associated with it. For more information, see Physical Schema (Projections) in Vertica Concepts.

See Also