Sql-server – Can the OUTPUT clause create a table

output-clausesql serversql-server-2008

I'm doing an update like this:

UPDATE dbo.Table1
SET BirthDate = b.BirthDate
FROM Table1 a
JOIN Table2 b
    ON a.ID = b.ID

And I want to use the OUTPUT clause to back up my changes. 

UPDATE dbo.Table1
SET BirthDate = b.BirthDate
OUTPUT 
    inserted.Id, inserted.BirthDate AS New_BirthDate, 
    deleted.BirthDate AS Old_BirthDate
    INTO OutputTable
FROM Table1 a
JOIN Table2 b
    ON a.ID = b.ID

What I want to know is if there is a way for the OUTPUT clause to create the table OutputTable or do I have to make sure it already exists before running the statement?

Best Answer

AFAIK, the target table must exist, though the documentation is not explicit and probably should be. I can't see anything in the syntax diagram that would support any type of extension to create the output table at the same time.

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