This topic describes the views of PolarDB for PostgreSQL(Compatible with Oracle).

Refer to the following SELECT command:

SELECT ename, sal, sal * 24 AS yearly_salary, deptno FROM emp;

 ename  |   sal   | yearly_salary | deptno
--------+---------+---------------+--------
 SMITH  |  800.00 |      19200.00 |     20
 ALLEN  | 1600.00 |      38400.00 |     30
 WARD   | 1250.00 |      30000.00 |     30
 JONES  | 2975.00 |      71400.00 |     20
 MARTIN | 1250.00 |      30000.00 |     30
 BLAKE  | 2850.00 |      68400.00 |     30
 CLARK  | 2450.00 |      58800.00 |     10
 SCOTT  | 3000.00 |      72000.00 |     20
 KING   | 5000.00 |     120000.00 |     10
 TURNER | 1500.00 |      36000.00 |     30
 ADAMS  | 1100.00 |      26400.00 |     20
 JAMES  |  950.00 |      22800.00 |     30
 FORD   | 3000.00 |      72000.00 |     20
 MILLER | 1300.00 |      31200.00 |     10
(14 rows)

If this query is repeatedly used, you can create a view to reuse this query without re-typing the entire SELECT statement each time. The following example shows how to create a view:

CREATE VIEW employee_pay AS SELECT ename, sal, sal * 24 AS yearly_salary, deptno FROM emp;

At present, the view name employee_pay can be used as a standard table name in a query.

SELECT * FROM employee_pay;

 ename  |   sal   | yearly_salary | deptno
--------+---------+---------------+--------
 SMITH  |  800.00 |      19200.00 |     20
 ALLEN  | 1600.00 |      38400.00 |     30
 WARD   | 1250.00 |      30000.00 |     30
 JONES  | 2975.00 |      71400.00 |     20
 MARTIN | 1250.00 |      30000.00 |     30
 BLAKE  | 2850.00 |      68400.00 |     30
 CLARK  | 2450.00 |      58800.00 |     10
 SCOTT  | 3000.00 |      72000.00 |     20
 KING   | 5000.00 |     120000.00 |     10
 TURNER | 1500.00 |      36000.00 |     30
 ADAMS  | 1100.00 |      26400.00 |     20
 JAMES  |  950.00 |      22800.00 |     30
 FORD   | 3000.00 |      72000.00 |     20
 MILLER | 1300.00 |      31200.00 |     10
(14 rows)

The liberal use of views is important to create a good Structured Query Language (SQL) database design. Views provide a consistent interface that encapsulates details of your table schema. The details may change as your application evolves.

Views can be used in almost each place where a real table can be used. Views can be built based on other views. This is a common operation.