Materialize/doc/user/content/sql/values.md

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title: "VALUES" description: "VALUES constructs a relation from value expressions." menu: main:

parent: commands

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VALUES constructs a relation from a list of parenthesized value expressions.

Syntax

VALUES ( expr [, ...] ) [, ( expr [, ...] ) ... ]

Each parenthesis represents a single row. The comma-delimited expressions in the parenthesis represent the values of the columns in that row.

Details

VALUES expressionscan be used anywhere that SELECT statements are valid. They are most commonly used in INSERT statements, but can also be used on their own.

Examples

Use VALUES in an INSERT

VALUES expressions are most commonly used in INSERT statements. The following example uses a VALUES expression in an INSERT statement:

INSERT INTO my_table VALUES (1, 2), (3, 4);

Use VALUES as a standalone expression

VALUES expression can be used anywhere that SELECT statements are valid.

For example:

• As a standalone expression:

  VALUES (1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6);
  

The above expression returns the following results:

  column1 | column2 | column3
  --------+---------+---------
        1 |       2 |       3
        4 |       5 |       6

• With an ORDER BY and LIMIT:

  VALUES (1), (2), (3) ORDER BY column1 DESC LIMIT 2;
  

The above expression returns the following results:

  column1
  --------
        3
        2