How to insert multiple rows into SQL using an Array? - sql

Question

I want to insert multiple rows into a database if they don't already exist, swapping out one columns value for each insertion. Below is some pseudo code of the goal:
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT [ChangeReason] FROM BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons WHERE [ChangeReason]= ('Other','Scope Change'))
INSERT INTO [dbo].[BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons]
([ChangeReason]
,[IsActive]
,[CreatedByUser]
,[CreatedOn]
,[LastUpdatedByUser]
,[LastUpdatedOn])
VALUES
( ('Other','Scope Change')
,'true'
,'system'
,GETDATE()
,null
,null)
GO
In other words, if a row with ChangeReason='Other' already exists, nothing will happen. If it does not exist, then it will be inserted with all the other values outlined as above (IsActive=true, etc). This will be repeated for each element in the array : ('Other','Scope Change')
EDIT:
I have written a stored procedure to take care of the dirty work for me. Is it possible to call this automatically for every element in the array? Or do I need X different exec statements?
IF EXISTS ( select * from sys.procedures where name='SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons') begin
DROP PROC SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons
end;
GO
create procedure SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons #Reason varchar(50)
as
begin
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT [ChangeReason] FROM BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons WHERE [ChangeReason]= #Reason)
INSERT INTO [dbo].[BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons]
([ChangeReason]
,[IsActive]
,[CreatedByUser]
,[CreatedOn]
,[LastUpdatedByUser]
,[LastUpdatedOn])
VALUES
(#Reason
,'true'
,'system'
,GETDATE()
,null
,null);
end;
GO
exec SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons #Reason='Other';
-- goal: auto-exec for every element in ('Other','Scope Change')

Answer 1

SQL doesn't understand arrays, but you can list multiple insert values like below.
INSERT INTO [dbo].[BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons]
([ChangeReason]
,[IsActive]
,[CreatedByUser]
,[CreatedOn]
,[LastUpdatedByUser]
,[LastUpdatedOn])
VALUES
('Other' , 'true', 'system', GETDATE(), null, null)
,('Scope Change' , 'true', 'system', GETDATE(), null, null)

Answer 2

You can create a pseudo-table using values like so:
select v.Id, v.Name from (values (1, 'Jason'), (2, 'Tony'), (3, 'Michelle')) v(Id, Name)
v is any alias you want to give it and you specify the names for the columns in parentheses. You can combine that with the MERGE statement to only insert those rows if they don't exist.
WITH SOURCE_CTE AS (
select ChangeReason, IsActive, CreatedByUser, CreatedOn, LastUpdatedByUser, LastUpdatedOn
from (values ('Other', 'true', 'system', getdate(), null, null),
('Scope Change', 'true', 'system', getdate(), null, null)
) tbl (ChangeReason, IsActive, CreatedByUser, CreatedOn, LastUpdatedByUser, LastUpdatedOn)
)
MERGE into dbo.BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons as t
using SOURCE_CTE as s
on t.ChangeReason = s.ChangeReason
when not matched by target then
insert (
ChangeReason,
IsActive,
CreatedByUser,
CreatedOn,
LastUpdatedByUser,
LastUpdatedOn
)
values
(
s.ChangeReason,
s.IsActive,
s.CreatedByUser,
s.CreatedOn,
s.LastUpdatedByUser,
s.LastUpdatedOn
)
* Edit after stored procedure change *
I'm not sure where your data is coming from and how you're passing it. First it seemed like it was just in a sql script. I find things like above handy for config tables, putting a script in the database project post-deploy to make sure values exist.
If using stored procedures, why not just call the stored procedure for each value?
exec SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons #Reason='Other';
exec SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons #Reason='Scope Change';
You could create a UDTT and load that with values and pass it to your stored proc:
create type StringList as table (
value varchar(256)
);
Create Procedure SafeInsert_BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons #Reasons StringList readonly
...

Answer 3

INSERT INTO [dbo].
[BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons]
([ChangeReason]
,[IsActive]
,[CreatedByUser]
,[CreatedOn]
,[LastUpdatedByUser]
,[LastUpdatedOn])
(select 'Other','Scope Change',
,'true'
,'system'
,GETDATE()
,null
,null) where NOT EXISTS (SELECT
[ChangeReason] FROM
BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons WHERE [ChangeReason] IN ('Other','Scope Change'))
or you can have a trigger before insert
Create Trigger name before insert
On
BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons
For each row
As
IIF(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM (SELECT
[ChangeReason] FROM
BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons
WHERE [ChangeReason] IN
('Other','Scope Change'))) >0)
THEN
INSERT......
END IF
END
or you can use a procedure
checkData(ChangeReason IN
BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons.
ChangeReason%TYPE)
AS
IIF(SELECT COUNT(*) FROM
(SELECT
[ChangeReason] FROM
BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons
WHERE [ChangeReason] IN
('Other','Scope Change'))) >0)
THEN
INSERT CHANGEREASON......
END IF
END

Answer 4

INSERT INTO [dbo].[BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons] ([ChangeReason]
,[IsActive]
,[CreatedByUser]
,[CreatedOn]
,[LastUpdatedByUser]
,[LastUpdatedOn])
SELECT [ChangeReason],'true','system',getDate(),null,null
FROM BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons
WHERE [ChangeReason]in ('Other','Scope Change')
[dbo].[BudgetAndAuthorizationChangeReasons] table should exist.

Answer 5

You struggle with the code because you struggle to define your goal. And that bleeds into those trying to help. Given a set of reasons, you simply want to all those that do not already exist in the table.
-- declare variables for demo
declare #rsn table (ChangeReason varchar(20) not null primary key,
IsActive varchar(5) not null, CreatedOn datetime not null);
-- add some "existing" data to table
insert #rsn (ChangeReason, IsActive, CreatedOn)
values ('Other', 'true', '20190801 13:01:01');
-- demonstrate the use of a table value constructor
with cte as (select * from (values ('Other'), ('Scope'), ('Change')) as x(rsn))
select * from cte;
-- use a transaction for testing just in case you actually use a real table
-- and not a table variable
begin tran;
merge into #rsn as target
using (values ('Other'), ('Scope'), ('Change')) as source(rsn)
on target.ChangeReason = source.rsn
when not matched by target then
insert (ChangeReason, IsActive, CreatedOn) values (rsn, 'true', getdate())
;
-- verify logic worked correctly
select * from #rsn;
rollback tran;
Here is fiddle to demonstrate. Notice that this makes use of table value constructor which is a very handy thing to know.