Using DBI in Perl to update multiple fields in one line? - sql

Question

I'm mediocre with perl and new to SQL, so excuse any lameness.
I've got a perl script I'm working on that interacts with a database to keep track of users on IRC. From tutorials I've found, I've been able to create the db, create a table within, INSERT a new record, UPDATE a field in that record, and SELECT/find records based on a field.
The problem is, I can only figure out how to UPDATE one field at a time and that seems inefficient.
The code to create the table:
my $sql = <<'END_SQL';
CREATE TABLE seenDB (
id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
date VARCHAR(10),
time VARCHAR(8),
nick VARCHAR(30) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
rawnick VARCHAR(100),
channel VARCHAR(32),
action VARCHAR(20),
message VARCHAR(380)
)
END_SQL
$dbh->do($sql);
And to insert a record using values I've determined elsewhere:
$dbh->do('INSERT INTO seenDB (nick, rawnick, channel, action, message, date, time) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)', undef, $nickString, $rawnickString, $channelString, $actionString, $messageString, $dateString, $timeString);
So, when the script needs to update, I'd like to update all of these fiends at once, but right now the only thing that works is one at a time, using syntax I got from the tutorial:
$dbh->do('UPDATE seenDB SET time = ? WHERE nick = ?',
undef,
$timeString,
$nickString);
I've tried the following syntaxes for multiple fields, but they fail:
$dbh->do('UPDATE seenDB (rawnick, channel, action, message, date, time) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)', undef, $rawnickString, $channelString, $actionString, $messageString, $dateString, $timeString);
and
$dbh->do('UPDATE seenDB SET rawnick=$rawnickString channel=$channelString action=$actionString message=$messageString date=$dateString time=$timeString WHERE nick=$nickString');
Is there a better way to do this?

Answer 1

You can update several fields at once in pretty much the same way as you update a single field, just list them comma separated in the update, something like;
$dbh->do('UPDATE seenDB SET rawnick=?, channel=?, action=?, message=?, date=?, time=? WHERE nick=?',
undef,
$rawnickString,
$channelString,
$actionString,
$messageString,
$dateString,
$timeString,
$nickString
);