{ "mode": "man", "parameter": "VALUES", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/VALUES/7/json", "generated": "2026-10-04T15:46:17Z", "synopsis": "VALUES ( expression [, ...] ) [, ...]\n[ ORDER BY sortexpression [ ASC | DESC | USING operator ] [, ...] ]\n[ LIMIT { count | ALL } ]\n[ OFFSET start [ ROW | ROWS ] ]\n[ FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } [ count ] { ROW | ROWS } ONLY ]", "sections": { "NAME": { "content": "VALUES - compute a set of rows\n", "subsections": [] }, "SYNOPSIS": { "content": "VALUES ( expression [, ...] ) [, ...]\n[ ORDER BY sortexpression [ ASC | DESC | USING operator ] [, ...] ]\n[ LIMIT { count | ALL } ]\n[ OFFSET start [ ROW | ROWS ] ]\n[ FETCH { FIRST | NEXT } [ count ] { ROW | ROWS } ONLY ]\n", "subsections": [] }, "DESCRIPTION": { "content": "VALUES computes a row value or set of row values specified by value expressions. It is most\ncommonly used to generate a “constant table” within a larger command, but it can be used on\nits own.\n\nWhen more than one row is specified, all the rows must have the same number of elements. The\ndata types of the resulting table's columns are determined by combining the explicit or\ninferred types of the expressions appearing in that column, using the same rules as for UNION\n(see Section 10.5).\n\nWithin larger commands, VALUES is syntactically allowed anywhere that SELECT is. Because it\nis treated like a SELECT by the grammar, it is possible to use the ORDER BY, LIMIT (or\nequivalently FETCH FIRST), and OFFSET clauses with a VALUES command.\n", "subsections": [] }, "PARAMETERS": { "content": "expression\nA constant or expression to compute and insert at the indicated place in the resulting\ntable (set of rows). In a VALUES list appearing at the top level of an INSERT, an\nexpression can be replaced by DEFAULT to indicate that the destination column's default\nvalue should be inserted. DEFAULT cannot be used when VALUES appears in other contexts.\n\nsortexpression\nAn expression or integer constant indicating how to sort the result rows. This expression\ncan refer to the columns of the VALUES result as column1, column2, etc. For more details\nsee ORDER BY Clause in the SELECT(7) documentation.\n\noperator\nA sorting operator. For details see ORDER BY Clause in the SELECT(7) documentation.\n\ncount\nThe maximum number of rows to return. For details see LIMIT Clause in the SELECT(7)\ndocumentation.\n\nstart\nThe number of rows to skip before starting to return rows. For details see LIMIT Clause\nin the SELECT(7) documentation.\n", "subsections": [] }, "NOTES": { "content": "VALUES lists with very large numbers of rows should be avoided, as you might encounter\nout-of-memory failures or poor performance. VALUES appearing within INSERT is a special case\n(because the desired column types are known from the INSERT's target table, and need not be\ninferred by scanning the VALUES list), so it can handle larger lists than are practical in\nother contexts.\n", "subsections": [] }, "EXAMPLES": { "content": "A bare VALUES command:\n\nVALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three');\n\nThis will return a table of two columns and three rows. It's effectively equivalent to:\n\nSELECT 1 AS column1, 'one' AS column2\nUNION ALL\nSELECT 2, 'two'\nUNION ALL\nSELECT 3, 'three';\n\nMore usually, VALUES is used within a larger SQL command. The most common use is in INSERT:\n\nINSERT INTO films (code, title, did, dateprod, kind)\nVALUES ('T601', 'Yojimbo', 106, '1961-06-16', 'Drama');\n\nIn the context of INSERT, entries of a VALUES list can be DEFAULT to indicate that the column\ndefault should be used here instead of specifying a value:\n\nINSERT INTO films VALUES\n('UA502', 'Bananas', 105, DEFAULT, 'Comedy', '82 minutes'),\n('T601', 'Yojimbo', 106, DEFAULT, 'Drama', DEFAULT);\n\nVALUES can also be used where a sub-SELECT might be written, for example in a FROM clause:\n\nSELECT f.*\nFROM films f, (VALUES('MGM', 'Horror'), ('UA', 'Sci-Fi')) AS t (studio, kind)\nWHERE f.studio = t.studio AND f.kind = t.kind;\n\nUPDATE employees SET salary = salary * v.increase\nFROM (VALUES(1, 200000, 1.2), (2, 400000, 1.4)) AS v (depno, target, increase)\nWHERE employees.depno = v.depno AND employees.sales >= v.target;\n\nNote that an AS clause is required when VALUES is used in a FROM clause, just as is true for\nSELECT. It is not required that the AS clause specify names for all the columns, but it's\ngood practice to do so. (The default column names for VALUES are column1, column2, etc. in\nPostgreSQL, but these names might be different in other database systems.)\n\nWhen VALUES is used in INSERT, the values are all automatically coerced to the data type of\nthe corresponding destination column. When it's used in other contexts, it might be necessary\nto specify the correct data type. If the entries are all quoted literal constants, coercing\nthe first is sufficient to determine the assumed type for all:\n\nSELECT * FROM machines\nWHERE ipaddress IN (VALUES('192.168.0.1'::inet), ('192.168.0.10'), ('192.168.1.43'));\n\nTip\n\nFor simple IN tests, it's better to rely on the list-of-scalars form of IN than to write\na VALUES query as shown above. The list of scalars method requires less writing and is\noften more efficient.\n", "subsections": [] }, "COMPATIBILITY": { "content": "VALUES conforms to the SQL standard. LIMIT and OFFSET are PostgreSQL extensions; see also\nunder SELECT(7).\n", "subsections": [] }, "SEE ALSO": { "content": "INSERT(7), SELECT(7)\n\nPostgreSQL 16.14 2026 VALUES(7)", "subsections": [] } }, "summary": "VALUES - compute a set of rows", "flags": [], "examples": [ "A bare VALUES command:", "VALUES (1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three');", "This will return a table of two columns and three rows. It's effectively equivalent to:", "SELECT 1 AS column1, 'one' AS column2", "UNION ALL", "SELECT 2, 'two'", "UNION ALL", "SELECT 3, 'three';", "More usually, VALUES is used within a larger SQL command. The most common use is in INSERT:", "INSERT INTO films (code, title, did, dateprod, kind)", "VALUES ('T601', 'Yojimbo', 106, '1961-06-16', 'Drama');", "In the context of INSERT, entries of a VALUES list can be DEFAULT to indicate that the column", "default should be used here instead of specifying a value:", "INSERT INTO films VALUES", "('UA502', 'Bananas', 105, DEFAULT, 'Comedy', '82 minutes'),", "('T601', 'Yojimbo', 106, DEFAULT, 'Drama', DEFAULT);", "VALUES can also be used where a sub-SELECT might be written, for example in a FROM clause:", "SELECT f.*", "FROM films f, (VALUES('MGM', 'Horror'), ('UA', 'Sci-Fi')) AS t (studio, kind)", "WHERE f.studio = t.studio AND f.kind = t.kind;", "UPDATE employees SET salary = salary * v.increase", "FROM (VALUES(1, 200000, 1.2), (2, 400000, 1.4)) AS v (depno, target, increase)", "WHERE employees.depno = v.depno AND employees.sales >= v.target;", "Note that an AS clause is required when VALUES is used in a FROM clause, just as is true for", "SELECT. It is not required that the AS clause specify names for all the columns, but it's", "good practice to do so. (The default column names for VALUES are column1, column2, etc. in", "PostgreSQL, but these names might be different in other database systems.)", "When VALUES is used in INSERT, the values are all automatically coerced to the data type of", "the corresponding destination column. When it's used in other contexts, it might be necessary", "to specify the correct data type. If the entries are all quoted literal constants, coercing", "the first is sufficient to determine the assumed type for all:", "SELECT * FROM machines", "WHERE ipaddress IN (VALUES('192.168.0.1'::inet), ('192.168.0.10'), ('192.168.1.43'));", "Tip", "For simple IN tests, it's better to rely on the list-of-scalars form of IN than to write", "a VALUES query as shown above. The list of scalars method requires less writing and is", "often more efficient." ], "see_also": [ { "name": "INSERT", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/INSERT/7/json" }, { "name": "SELECT", "section": "7", "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SELECT/7/json" } ] }