# Creating Tables and Views

## create

This method allows you to create a table object.

| Argument | Type     | Required | Default | Description                                                                                         |
| -------- | -------- | -------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| table    | string   | `true`   |         | The name of the table to create.                                                                    |
| callback | function | `true`   |         | A callback function used to define the table body. It is passed a `Blueprint` as the only argument. |
| options  | struct   | `false`  | `{}`    | Options to pass to `queryExecute`.                                                                  |
| execute  | boolean  | `false`  | `true`  | Run the query immediately after building it.                                                        |

The majority of the work comes from calling methods on the `Blueprint` object. A `Blueprint` defines the [columns](https://qb.ortusbooks.com/schema-builder/columns) and [indexes](https://qb.ortusbooks.com/schema-builder/column-modifiers) for your tables.

Example:

```javascript
schema.create( "users", function( table ) {
    table.increments( "id" );
    table.string( "email" );
    table.string( "password" );
    table.timestamp( "created_date" );
    table.timestamp( "modified_date" );
    table.timestamp( "last_logged_in" ).nullable();
} );
```

This would convert to the following SQL in MySQL:

```sql
CREATE TABLE `users` (
    `id` INTEGER(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    `email` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    `password` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    `created_date` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    `modified_date` TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
    `last_logged_in` TIMESTAMP,
    CONSTRAINT `pk_users_id` PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
)
```

Only one table can be created at a time. If you wanted to create multiple tables, you would call `create` multiple times.

The `callback` argument is where you define the schema of your table. It is passed a `Blueprint` object. This is commonly aliased as `table` in the callback. `Blueprint` defines the field, index and constraint methods to build your table. You can find a comprehensive list of all available methods here for [columns](https://github.com/ortus/qb/tree/b0b49b9b35032508e73231da3a39856a7bc9d21b/schema/columns.md) and here for [indexes and constraints](https://qb.ortusbooks.com/schema-builder/column-modifiers).

## createAs

This method allows you to create a table using a query.  It is similar to a view except that the data is inserted once at table creation.

{% hint style="warning" %}
This is an `UnsupportedOperation` on `DerbyGrammar`.
{% endhint %}

| Argument     | Type     | Required | Default | Description                                                                                            |
| ------------ | -------- | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| newTableName | string   | `true`   |         | The name of the table to create.                                                                       |
| callback     | function | `true`   |         | A callback function used to define the table body. It is passed a `QueryBuilder` as the only argument. |
| options      | struct   | `false`  | `{}`    | Options to pass to `queryExecute`.                                                                     |
| execute      | boolean  | `false`  | `true`  | Run the query immediately after building it.                                                           |

Like with a `view`, the columns are defined by the data returned by the query.  The data returned by the query will be inserted into the table.

## createView

This method allows you to create a view using a query.

| Argument | Type     | Required | Default | Description                                                                                            |
| -------- | -------- | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| view     | string   | `true`   |         | The name of the view to create.                                                                        |
| callback | function | `true`   |         | A callback function used to define the table body. It is passed a `QueryBuilder` as the only argument. |
| options  | struct   | `false`  | `{}`    | Options to pass to `queryExecute`.                                                                     |
| execute  | boolean  | `false`  | `true`  | Run the query immediately after building it.                                                           |