Simple PostgreSQL plpgsql to create a new table using existing table - postgresql

Question

I'm new to plpgsql. I'm sure there is some really simple way to do this, but for some reason I'm having a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to do this.
I'm simply trying to loop through the list of existing tables and execute
CREATE TABLE z_existing_table_name AS SELECT * FROM existing_table_name WITH DATA
So far, I have this:
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION create_backup_row()
RETURNS RECORD
AS $$
DECLARE
row RECORD;
BEGIN
FOR row IN SELECT * FROM information_schema.tables WHERE table_catalog = 'my_db' and table_schema = 'public'
LOOP
EXECUTE 'CREATE TABLE z_' || t.table_name || ' as ' || t.table_name
END LOOP;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;
It would be an added bonus if I can make this function re-runnable. Something like drop table if exist then create table ...

Answer 1

#Steven, use below procedure,
-- Function: create_backup_row()
-- DROP FUNCTION create_backup_row();
CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION create_backup_row()
RETURNS integer AS
$BODY$
DECLARE
v_table text;
BEGIN
FOR v_table IN
SELECT table_name
FROM information_schema.tables
WHERE table_catalog = 'my_db'
AND table_schema = 'public'
AND table_name not ilike '%z_%' -- to skip the table with z_ when we rerun it.
LOOP
EXECUTE ' DROP TABLE IF EXISTS z_' || v_table ;
EXECUTE 'CREATE TABLE z_' || v_table || ' as SELECT * FROM ' || v_table ;
END LOOP;
return 1;
END;
$BODY$
LANGUAGE plpgsql VOLATILE
COST 100;
ALTER FUNCTION create_backup_row()
OWNER TO postgres;