A very common task is to backup a table’s data, but sometimes we’d just like to copy a table’s structure. This quick tip will demonstrate how to copy a table’s data as well as only the structure of a table.

To copy a table along with its data, use the following query:

SELECT * INTO COPYofTABLEFROM TABLEtoCOPY

The above query creates a table and copies the data from the TABLEtoCOPY?table into the COPYofTABLE?table.

To copy only the table structure, use a query similar to the following query:

SELECT * INTO COPYofTABLEFROM TABLEtoCOPYWHERE 1 = 2

This query creates only the table structure and does not copy any data. Why? The answer lies in the WHERE clause. Because 1 will never equal 2, there will be no results to copy, thus only creating the empty table structure inside the new table.