If you're just replicating the data from table A into table B, why does it need its own ID number? Wouldn't the table A ID suffice? I'd recommend using the following: CREATE TABLE b AS ( SELECT * FROM a ); This way, you only define the columns and insert the data once, then let Postgres do the rest for you. Obviously if you need to have a separate table B ID, you can alter as necessary. Good luck, Richard Dunks On Jun 10, 2013, at 7:29 PM, Aleksandr Furmanov <aleksandr.furmanov@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Hello, > I want to insert new values into target table 'a' from source table 'b', and then update table 'b' with ids from table 'a', somewhat like: > > CREATE TABLE a(id SERIAL, name TEXT); > INSERT INTO a (name) VALUES('Jason'); > INSERT INTO a (name) VALUES('Peter'); > > CREATE TABLE b(row_id serial, id INT, name TEXT); > INSERT INTO b (name) VALUES('Jason'); > INSERT INTO b (name) VALUES('Peter'); > > > WITH inserted AS (INSERT INTO a (name) SELECT b.name FROM b WHERE b.name = name RETURNING a.id) > UPDATE b SET id = inserted.id FROM inserted WHERE inserted.row_id = b.row_id; > > However this would not work for obvious reason: > > WHERE inserted.row_id = b.row_id is invalid because RETURNING clause cannot return row_id. > What can be returned are only columns of 'a', but they are insufficient to identify matching records of 'b'. > > So the question is - what to put in WHERE clause to match RETURNING with rows being inserted from 'b'? > > Thanks! > > -- > Aleksandr Furmanov > > > > -- > Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) > To make changes to your subscription: > http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general -- Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general