Postgresql update column based on set of values from another table - sql

Question

Dummy data to illustrate my problem:
create table table1 (category_id int,unit varchar,is_valid bool);
insert into table1 (category_id, unit, is_valid)
VALUES (1, 'a', true), (2, 'z', true);
create table table2 (category_id int,unit varchar);
insert into table2 (category_id, unit)
values(1, 'a'),(1, 'b'),(1, 'c'),(2, 'd'),(2, 'e');
So the data looks like:
Table 1:
category_id
unit
is_valid
1
a
true
2
z
true
Table 2:
category_id
unit
1
a
1
b
1
c
2
d
2
e
I want to update the is_valid column in Table 1, if the category_id/unit combination from Table 1 doesn't match any of the rows in Table 2. For example, the first row in Table 1 is valid, since (1, a) is in Table 2. However, the second row in Table 1 is not valid, since (2, z) is not in Table 2.
How can I update the column using postgresql? I tried a few different where clauses of the form
UPDATE table1 SET is_valid = false WHERE...
but I cannot get a WHERE clause that works how I want.

Answer 1

You can just set the value of is_valid the the result of a ` where exists (select ...). See Demo.
update table1 t1
set is_valid = exists (select null
from table2 t2
where (t2.category_id, t2.unit) = (t1.category_id, t1.unit)
);
NOTES:
Advantage: Query correctly sets the is_valid column regardless of the current value and is a vary simple query.
Disadvantage: Query sets the value of is_valid for every row in the table; even thoes already correctly set.
You need to decide whether the disadvantage out ways the advantage. If so then the same basic technique in a much more complicated query:
with to_valid (category_id, unit, is_valid) as
(select category_id
, unit
, exists (select null
from table2 t2
where (t2.category_id, t2.unit) = (t1.category_id, t1.unit)
)
from table1 t1
)
update table1 tu
set is_valid = to_valid.is_valid
from to_valid
where (tu.category_id, tu.unit) = (to_valid.category_id, to_valid.unit)
and tu.is_valid is distinct from to_valid.is_valid;