Update multiple row values to same row and different columns - sql

Question

I was trying to update table columns from another table.
In person table, there can be multiple contact persons with same inst_id.
I have a firm table, which will have latest 2 contact details from person table.
I am expecting the firm tables as below:
If there is only one contact person, update person1 and email1. If there are 2, update both. If there is 3, discard the 3rd one.
Can someone help me on this?

Answer 1

This should work:
;with cte (rn, id, inst_id, person_name, email) as (
select row_number() over (partition by inst_id order by id) rn, *
from person
)
update f
set
person1 = cte1.person_name,
email1 = cte1.email,
person2 = cte2.person_name,
email2 = cte2.email
from firm f
left join cte cte1 on f.inst_id = cte1.inst_id and cte1.rn = 1
left join cte cte2 on f.inst_id = cte2.inst_id and cte2.rn = 2
The common table expression (cte) used as a source for the update numbers rows in the person table, partitioned by inst_id, and then the update joins the cte twice (for top 1 and top 2).
Sample SQL Fiddle

Answer 2

I think you don't have to bother yourself with this update, if you rethink your database structure. One great advantage of relational databases is, that you don't need to store the same data several times in several tables, but have one single table for one kind of data (like the person's table in your case) and then reference it (by relationships or foreign keys for example).
So what does this mean for your example? I suggest, to create a institution's table where you insert two attributes like contactperson1 and contactperson2: but dont't insert all the contact details (like email and name), just the primary key of the person and make it a foreign key.
So you got a table 'Person', that should look something like this:
ID INSTITUTION_ID NAME EMAIL
1 100 abc abc#inst.com
2 101 efg efg#xym.com
3 101 ijk ijk#fg.com
4 101 rtw rtw#rtw.com
...
And a table "Institution" like:
ID CONTACTPERSON1 CONTACTPERSON2
100 1 NULL
101 2 3
...
If you now want to change the email adress, just update the person's table. You don't need to update the firm's table.
And how do you get your desired "table" with the two contact persons' details? Just make a query:
SELECT i.id, p1.name, p1.email, p2.name, p2.email
FROM institution i LEFT OUTER JOIN person p1 ON (i.contactperson1 = p1.id)
LEFT OUTER JOIN person p2 ON (i.contactperson2 = p2.id)
If you need this query often and access it like a "table" just store it as a view.