Copy data from table to table

Hi All,

I can not think of a way to copy data directly betweeen two tables.

I can only think of two ways to copy the data indirectly.

Method 1:  Write a function that loops through the results of a select query
running individual inserts for each record.

Method 2:  Use SELECT INTO to put the desired data in a temporoary table; then
use COPY to store the data in a file and finally use COPY to read the data
from the file to the target table.

I have implemented the first method for situations where the source data ends
up in multiple tables but I want to check with all of you prior to creating a
function to do this for a single target table.

As a curious point of information I worked with a database once that allowed
you to SELECT INTO an existing table.  It was handy.

Kind Regards,
Keith