## 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 `TABLE` and `INDEX` are 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 `TABLE` access methods, it must be `table_am_handler` and 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 table access method API is described in Chapter 60 and 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