Provided by: postgresql-client-14_14.5-1ubuntu1_amd64 
NAME
CREATE_SEQUENCE - define a new sequence generator
SYNOPSIS
CREATE [ TEMPORARY | TEMP ] SEQUENCE [ IF NOT EXISTS ] name
[ AS data_type ]
[ INCREMENT [ BY ] increment ]
[ MINVALUE minvalue | NO MINVALUE ] [ MAXVALUE maxvalue | NO MAXVALUE ]
[ START [ WITH ] start ] [ CACHE cache ] [ [ NO ] CYCLE ]
[ OWNED BY { table_name.column_name | NONE } ]
DESCRIPTION
CREATE SEQUENCE creates a new sequence number generator. This involves creating and
initializing a new special single-row table with the name name. The generator will be
owned by the user issuing the command.
If a schema name is given then the sequence is created in the specified schema. Otherwise
it is created in the current schema. Temporary sequences exist in a special schema, so a
schema name cannot be given when creating a temporary sequence. The sequence name must be
distinct from the name of any other sequence, table, index, view, or foreign table in the
same schema.
After a sequence is created, you use the functions nextval, currval, and setval to operate
on the sequence. These functions are documented in Section 9.17.
Although you cannot update a sequence directly, you can use a query like:
SELECT * FROM name;
to examine the parameters and current state of a sequence. In particular, the last_value
field of the sequence shows the last value allocated by any session. (Of course, this
value might be obsolete by the time it's printed, if other sessions are actively doing
nextval calls.)
PARAMETERS
TEMPORARY or TEMP
If specified, the sequence object is created only for this session, and is
automatically dropped on session exit. Existing permanent sequences with the same name
are not visible (in this session) while the temporary sequence exists, unless they are
referenced with schema-qualified names.
IF NOT EXISTS
Do not throw an error if a relation with the same name already exists. A notice is
issued in this case. Note that there is no guarantee that the existing relation is
anything like the sequence that would have been created — it might not even be a
sequence.
name
The name (optionally schema-qualified) of the sequence to be created.
data_type
The optional clause AS data_type specifies the data type of the sequence. Valid types
are smallint, integer, and bigint. bigint is the default. The data type determines
the default minimum and maximum values of the sequence.
increment
The optional clause INCREMENT BY increment specifies which value is added to the
current sequence value to create a new value. A positive value will make an ascending
sequence, a negative one a descending sequence. The default value is 1.
minvalue
NO MINVALUE
The optional clause MINVALUE minvalue determines the minimum value a sequence can
generate. If this clause is not supplied or NO MINVALUE is specified, then defaults
will be used. The default for an ascending sequence is 1. The default for a descending
sequence is the minimum value of the data type.
maxvalue
NO MAXVALUE
The optional clause MAXVALUE maxvalue determines the maximum value for the sequence.
If this clause is not supplied or NO MAXVALUE is specified, then default values will
be used. The default for an ascending sequence is the maximum value of the data type.
The default for a descending sequence is -1.
start
The optional clause START WITH start allows the sequence to begin anywhere. The
default starting value is minvalue for ascending sequences and maxvalue for descending
ones.
cache
The optional clause CACHE cache specifies how many sequence numbers are to be
preallocated and stored in memory for faster access. The minimum value is 1 (only one
value can be generated at a time, i.e., no cache), and this is also the default.
CYCLE
NO CYCLE
The CYCLE option allows the sequence to wrap around when the maxvalue or minvalue has
been reached by an ascending or descending sequence respectively. If the limit is
reached, the next number generated will be the minvalue or maxvalue, respectively.
If NO CYCLE is specified, any calls to nextval after the sequence has reached its
maximum value will return an error. If neither CYCLE or NO CYCLE are specified, NO
CYCLE is the default.
OWNED BY table_name.column_name
OWNED BY NONE
The OWNED BY option causes the sequence to be associated with a specific table column,
such that if that column (or its whole table) is dropped, the sequence will be
automatically dropped as well. The specified table must have the same owner and be in
the same schema as the sequence. OWNED BY NONE, the default, specifies that there is
no such association.
NOTES
Use DROP SEQUENCE to remove a sequence.
Sequences are based on bigint arithmetic, so the range cannot exceed the range of an
eight-byte integer (-9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807).
Because nextval and setval calls are never rolled back, sequence objects cannot be used if
“gapless” assignment of sequence numbers is needed. It is possible to build gapless
assignment by using exclusive locking of a table containing a counter; but this solution
is much more expensive than sequence objects, especially if many transactions need
sequence numbers concurrently.
Unexpected results might be obtained if a cache setting greater than one is used for a
sequence object that will be used concurrently by multiple sessions. Each session will
allocate and cache successive sequence values during one access to the sequence object and
increase the sequence object's last_value accordingly. Then, the next cache-1 uses of
nextval within that session simply return the preallocated values without touching the
sequence object. So, any numbers allocated but not used within a session will be lost when
that session ends, resulting in “holes” in the sequence.
Furthermore, although multiple sessions are guaranteed to allocate distinct sequence
values, the values might be generated out of sequence when all the sessions are
considered. For example, with a cache setting of 10, session A might reserve values 1..10
and return nextval=1, then session B might reserve values 11..20 and return nextval=11
before session A has generated nextval=2. Thus, with a cache setting of one it is safe to
assume that nextval values are generated sequentially; with a cache setting greater than
one you should only assume that the nextval values are all distinct, not that they are
generated purely sequentially. Also, last_value will reflect the latest value reserved by
any session, whether or not it has yet been returned by nextval.
Another consideration is that a setval executed on such a sequence will not be noticed by
other sessions until they have used up any preallocated values they have cached.
EXAMPLES
Create an ascending sequence called serial, starting at 101:
CREATE SEQUENCE serial START 101;
Select the next number from this sequence:
SELECT nextval('serial');
nextval
---------
101
Select the next number from this sequence:
SELECT nextval('serial');
nextval
---------
102
Use this sequence in an INSERT command:
INSERT INTO distributors VALUES (nextval('serial'), 'nothing');
Update the sequence value after a COPY FROM:
BEGIN;
COPY distributors FROM 'input_file';
SELECT setval('serial', max(id)) FROM distributors;
END;
COMPATIBILITY
CREATE SEQUENCE conforms to the SQL standard, with the following exceptions:
• Obtaining the next value is done using the nextval() function instead of the
standard's NEXT VALUE FOR expression.
• The OWNED BY clause is a PostgreSQL extension.
SEE ALSO
ALTER SEQUENCE (ALTER_SEQUENCE(7)), DROP SEQUENCE (DROP_SEQUENCE(7))