Re: Removing duplicate records from a bulk upload (rationale behind selecting a method)

Scott Marlowe <scott(dot)marlowe(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> If you're de-duping a whole table, no need to create indexes, as it's
> gonna have to hit every row anyway. Fastest way I've found has been:

> select a,b,c into newtable from oldtable group by a,b,c;

> On pass, done.

> If you want to use less than the whole row, you can use select
> distinct on (col1, col2) * into newtable from oldtable;

Also, the DISTINCT ON method can be refined to control which of a set of
duplicate keys is retained, if you can identify additional columns that
constitute a preference order for retaining/discarding dupes. See the
"latest weather reports" example in the SELECT reference page.

In any case, it's advisable to crank up work_mem while performing this
operation.

regards, tom lane