How to UPDATE all columns of a record without having to list every column - sql

Question

I'm trying to figure out a way to update a record without having to list every column name that needs to be updated.
For instance, it would be nice if I could use something similar to the following:
// the parts inside braces are what I am trying to figure out
UPDATE Employee
SET {all columns, without listing each of them}
WITH {this record with id of '111' from other table}
WHERE employee_id = '100'
If this can be done, what would be the most straightforward/efficient way of writing such a query?

Answer 1

It's not possible.
What you're trying to do is not part of SQL specification and is not supported by any database vendor. See the specifications of SQL UPDATE statements for MySQL, Postgresql, MSSQL, Oracle, Firebird, Teradata. Every one of those supports only below syntax:
UPDATE table_reference
SET column1 = {expression} [, column2 = {expression}] ...
[WHERE ...]

Answer 2

This is not posible, but..
you can doit:
begin tran
delete from table where CONDITION
insert into table select * from EqualDesingTabletoTable where CONDITION
commit tran
be carefoul with identity fields.

Answer 3

Here's a hardcore way to do it with SQL SERVER. Carefully consider security and integrity before you try it, though.
This uses schema to get the names of all the columns and then puts together a big update statement to update all columns except ID column, which it uses to join the tables.
This only works for a single column key, not composites.
usage: EXEC UPDATE_ALL 'source_table','destination_table','id_column'
CREATE PROCEDURE UPDATE_ALL
#SOURCE VARCHAR(100),
#DEST VARCHAR(100),
#ID VARCHAR(100)
AS
DECLARE #SQL VARCHAR(MAX) =
'UPDATE D SET ' +
-- Google 'for xml path stuff' This gets the rows from query results and
-- turns into comma separated list.
STUFF((SELECT ', D.'+ COLUMN_NAME + ' = S.' + COLUMN_NAME
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_NAME = #DEST
AND COLUMN_NAME <> #ID
FOR XML PATH('')),1,1,'')
+ ' FROM ' + #SOURCE + ' S JOIN ' + #DEST + ' D ON S.' + #ID + ' = D.' + #ID
--SELECT #SQL
EXEC (#SQL)

Answer 4

In Oracle PL/SQL, you can use the following syntax:
DECLARE
r my_table%ROWTYPE;
BEGIN
r.a := 1;
r.b := 2;
...
UPDATE my_table
SET ROW = r
WHERE id = r.id;
END;
Of course that just moves the burden from the UPDATE statement to the record construction, but you might already have fetched the record from somewhere.

Answer 5

How about using Merge?
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb522522(v=sql.105).aspx
It gives you the ability to run Insert, Update, and Delete. One other piece of advice is if you're going to be updating a large data set with indexes, and the source subset is smaller than your target but both tables are very large, move the changes to a temporary table first. I tried to merge two tables that were nearly two million rows each and 20 records took 22 minutes. Once I moved the deltas over to a temp table, it took seconds.

Answer 6

If you are using Oracle, you can use rowtype
declare
var_x TABLE_A%ROWTYPE;
Begin
select * into var_x
from TABLE_B where rownum = 1;
update TABLE_A set row = var_x
where ID = var_x.ID;
end;
/
given that TABLE_A and TABLE_B are of same schema

Answer 7

It is possible. Like npe said it's not a standard practice. But if you really have to:
1. First a scalar function
CREATE FUNCTION [dte].[getCleanUpdateQuery] (#pTableName varchar(40), #pQueryFirstPart VARCHAR(200) = '', #pQueryLastPart VARCHAR(200) = '', #pIncludeCurVal BIT = 1)
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000) AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000);
WITH cte_Temp
AS
(
SELECT
C.name
FROM SYS.COLUMNS AS C
INNER JOIN SYS.TABLES AS T ON T.object_id = C.object_id
WHERE T.name = #pTableName
)
SELECT #pQuery = (
CASE #pIncludeCurVal
WHEN 0 THEN
(
STUFF(
(SELECT ', ' + name + ' = ' + #pQueryFirstPart + #pQueryLastPart FROM cte_Temp FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 2, ''
)
)
ELSE
(
STUFF(
(SELECT ', ' + name + ' = ' + #pQueryFirstPart + name + #pQueryLastPart FROM cte_Temp FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 2, ''
)
) END)
RETURN 'UPDATE ' + #pTableName + ' SET ' + #pQuery
END
2. Use it like this
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery(<your table name>, <query part before current value>, <query part after current value>, <1 if current value is used. 0 if updating everything to a static value>);
EXEC (#pQuery)
Example 1: make all employees columns 'Unknown' (you need to make sure column type matches the intended value:
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery('employee', '', 'Unknown', 0);
EXEC (#pQuery)
Example 2: Remove an undesired text qualifier (e.g. #)
DECLARE #pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery('employee', 'REPLACE(', ', ''#'', '''')', 1);
EXEC (#pQuery)
This query can be improved. This is just the one I saved and sometime I use. You get the idea.

Answer 8

Similar to an upsert, you could check if the item exists on the table, if so, delete it and insert it with the new values (technically updating it) but you would lose your rowid if that's something sensitive to keep in your case.
Behold, the updelsert
IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM Employee WHERE ID = #SomeID)
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES(#SomeID, #Your, #Vals, #Here)
ELSE
DELETE FROM Employee WHERE ID = #SomeID
INSERT INTO Employee VALUES(#SomeID, #Your, #Vals, #Here)

Answer 9

you could do it by deleting the column in the table and adding the column back in and adding a default value of whatever you needed it to be. then saving this will require to rebuild the table