How to use a table in SQL WITH statement? - sql

Question

I am trying to use a pre-existing table in the SQL statement at the bottom of the question rather than the data that is being generated in the SQL statement. Currently, there is some data that is generated using:
WITH polys(poly_id, geom) AS (VALUES (1, 'POLYGON((1 1, 1 5, 4 5, 4 4, 2 4, 2 2, 4 2, 4 1, 1 1))'::GEOMETRY),
(2, 'POLYGON((6 6, 6 10, 8 10, 9 7, 8 6, 6 6))'::GEOMETRY)),
However, let's say I already have a table named polys with the poly_id and geom columns, exactly as what would be created above. How can I insert my pre-existing polys table into this SQL statement (i.e. what syntax would I use)?
I have tried the following to add a pre-existing polys table using:
CREATE TABLE polys_pts AS
WITH polys(poly_id, geom) AS,
with the following error:
ERROR: syntax error at or near ","
LINE 2: WITH polys(poly_id, geom) AS,
^
Full Code:
CREATE TABLE polys_pts AS
WITH polys(poly_id, geom) AS (VALUES (1, 'POLYGON((1 1, 1 5, 4 5, 4 4, 2 4, 2 2, 4 2, 4 1, 1 1))'::GEOMETRY),
(2, 'POLYGON((6 6, 6 10, 8 10, 9 7, 8 6, 6 6))'::GEOMETRY)),
pnt_clusters AS (SELECT polys.poly_id,
CASE
WHEN ST_Area(polys.geom)>9 THEN ST_ClusterKMeans(pts.geom, 8) OVER(PARTITION BY polys.poly_id)
ELSE ST_ClusterKMeans(pts.geom, 2) OVER(PARTITION BY polys.poly_id)
END AS cluster_id, pts.geom FROM polys,
LATERAL ST_Dump(ST_GeneratePoints(polys.geom, 1000, 1)) AS pts),
centroids AS (SELECT cluster_id, ST_PointOnSurface(ST_collect(geom)) AS geom FROM pnt_clusters GROUP BY poly_id, cluster_id),
neg_buffer AS (SELECT poly_id, (ST_Buffer(geom, -0.4, 'endcap=flat join=round')) geom FROM polys GROUP BY poly_id, polys.geom),
neg_buffer_pts_out AS (SELECT a.cluster_id, (a.geom) geom FROM centroids a WHERE EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM neg_buffer b WHERE ST_Intersects(a.geom, b.geom))),
neg_buffer_pts_in AS (SELECT a.cluster_id, (a.geom) geom FROM centroids a WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM neg_buffer b WHERE ST_Intersects(a.geom, b.geom))),
snap_pts_clusters_in AS (SELECT DISTINCT ST_ClosestPoint(ST_ExteriorRing(a.geom), b.geom) AS geom FROM neg_buffer a, neg_buffer_pts_in b),
node_pts AS (SELECT ST_StartPoint(ST_ExteriorRing(geom)) geom FROM neg_buffer),
snap_pts AS (SELECT b.cluster_id, a.geom FROM snap_pts_clusters_in a JOIN centroids b ON ST_DWithin(a.geom, b.geom, 0.4))
SELECT a.cluster_id, (a.geom) geom FROM snap_pts a WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM node_pts b WHERE ST_Intersects(a.geom, b.geom))
UNION SELECT c.cluster_id, (c.geom) geom FROM neg_buffer_pts_out c ORDER BY cluster_id;

Answer 1

I'm not sure of understanding your question so i give you a broad answer.
To create a table from a query you must use:
CREATE TABLE foo AS
SELECT * FROM my_table;
CTEs are builded as:
WITH
tmp1 AS (
SELECT * from my_table1
), -- commna
tmp2 AS (
SELECT * from my_table2
)
SELECT * from tmp1 JOIN tmp2 ON tmp1.id = tmp2.id -- no comma
;
Note that the are , to separate different "temporary" tables defined in the CTE but the final sentence is not preceded with a ,
So to create a table from a CTE the syntax will be:
CREATE TABLE foo AS
WITH
tmp1 AS (
SELECT * from my_table1
),
tmp2 AS (
SELECT * from my_table2
)
SELECT * from tmp1 JOIN tmp2 ON tmp1.id = tmp2.id -- no comma
;
Create a table from a VALUES clause is the same as the other cases:
CREATE TABLE polys2 AS
VALUES
(1, 'POLYGON((1 1, 1 5, 4 5, 4 4, 2 4, 2 2, 4 2, 4 1, 1 1))'::GEOMETRY),
(2, 'POLYGON((6 6, 6 10, 8 10, 9 7, 8 6, 6 6))'::GEOMETRY)
;
If you already have a table called polys2 that has been created for example like is shown in the previous example, you can replace
CREATE TABLE polys_pts AS
WITH
polys(poly_id, geom) AS (
VALUES
(1, 'POLYGON((1 1, 1 5, 4 5, 4 4, 2 4, 2 2, 4 2, 4 1, 1 1))'::GEOMETRY),
(2, 'POLYGON((6 6, 6 10, 8 10, 9 7, 8 6, 6 6))'::GEOMETRY)),
pnt_clusters AS (SELECT polys.poly_id, ...
with
CREATE TABLE polys_pts AS
WITH
polys(poly_id, geom) AS (
SELECT poly_id, geom FROM polys2
),
pnt_clusters AS (SELECT polys.poly_id, ...

Answer 2

um, the question is not 100% clear to me - ... I am not familiar with pecularities of postgresql, but my first bet would be to try
WITH polys(...) AS (...),
pnt_clusters AS (...)
CREATE polys_pts AS (
SELECT ..
FROM polys... etc.
)
but I guess this is not allowed since WITH only goes with DML statements (data manipulation unlike data definition (DDL) statements like CREATE)
so.. my next bet would be to try using polys and pnt_clusters that you defined inside WITH clause, inline inside the SELECT statement, given that
WITH a AS (
SELECT x, y FROM z
)
SELECT *
FROM a
is the same as
SELECT *
FROM (
SELECT x, y
FROM z
) AS a
well, otherwise I would split the process into two steps - create some kind of temporary tables first for polys and pnt_clusters and then do the create...

Answer 3

The definition of a CTE must be a complete statement, so you have to use
WITH polys(poly_id, geom) AS (
SELECT *
FROM (VALUES
(1, 'POLYGON((1 1, 1 5, 4 5, 4 4, 2 4, 2 2, 4 2, 4 1, 1 1))'::GEOMETRY),
(2, 'POLYGON((6 6, 6 10, 8 10, 9 7, 8 6, 6 6))'::GEOMETRY)
) AS p(p, g)
)