## CREATE ACCESS METHOD

CREATE ACCESS METHOD — define a new access method

## Synopsis

    CREATE ACCESS METHOD name
        TYPE access_method_type
        HANDLER handler_function

## Description

`CREATE ACCESS METHOD` creates a new access method.

The access method name must be unique within the database.

Only superusers can define new access methods.

## Parameters

`name`

  The name of the access method to be created.

`access_method_type`

  This clause specifies the type of access method to define. Only `INDEX` is supported at present.

`handler_function`

  `handler_function` is the name (possibly schema-qualified) of a previously registered function that represents the access method. The handler function must be declared to take a single argument of type `internal`, and its return type depends on the type of access method; for `INDEX` access methods, it must be `index_am_handler`. The C-level API that the handler function must implement varies depending on the type of access method. The index access method API is described in Chapter 61.

## Examples

Create an index access method `heptree` with handler function `heptree_handler`:

    CREATE ACCESS METHOD heptree TYPE INDEX HANDLER heptree_handler;

## Compatibility

`CREATE ACCESS METHOD` is a PostgreSQL extension.

## See Also

DROP ACCESS METHOD, CREATE OPERATOR CLASS, CREATE OPERATOR FAMILY