update a table from another table and add new values - sql

Question

How would I go about updating a table by using another table so it puts in the new data and if it doesnt match on an id it adds the new id and the data with it. My original table i much bigger than the new table that will update it. and the new table has a few ids that aren't in the old table but need to be added.
for example I have:
Table being updated-
+-------------------+
| Original Table |
+-------------------+
| ID | Initials |
|------+------------|
| 1 | ABC |
| 2 | DEF |
| 3 | GHI |
and...
the table I'm pulling data from to update the other table-
+-------------------+
| New Table |
+-------------------+
| ID | Initials |
|------+------------|
| 1 | XZY |
| 2 | QRS |
| 3 | GHI |
| 4 | ABC |
then I want my Original table to get its values that match up to be updated by the new table if they have changed, and add any new ID rows if they aren't in the original table so in this example it would look like the New Table.
+-------------------+
| Original Table |
+-------------------+
| ID | Initials |
|------+------------|
| 1 | XZY |
| 2 | QRS |
| 3 | GHI |
| 4 | ABC |

Answer 1

You can use MERGE statement to put this UPSERT operation in one statement but there are issues with merge statement I would split it into two Statements, UPDATE and INSERT
UPDATE
UPDATE O
SET O.Initials = N.Initials
FROM Original_Table O INNER JOIN New_Table N
ON O.ID = N.ID
INSERT
INSERT INTO Original_Table (ID , Initials)
SELECT ID , Initials
FROM New_Table
WHERE NOT EXISTS ( SELECT 1
FROM Original_Table
WHERE ID = Original_Table.ID)
Important Note
Reason why I suggested to avoid using merge statement read this article Use Caution with SQL Server's MERGE Statement by Aaron Bertrand

Answer 2

You need to use the MERGE statement for this:
MERGE original_table AS Target
USING updated_table as Source
ON original_table.id = updated_table.id
WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET Target.Initials = Source.Initials
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN INSERT(id, Initials) VALUES(Source.id, Source.Initials);
You have not specified, what happens in case the valuesin original table are not found in the updated one. But, just in case, you can add this to remove them from original table:
WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE
THEN DELETE

Answer 3

if you can use loop in PHP and go through all tables and copy one by one to another table.
another option
DECLARE #COUT INT
SET #COUT = SELECT COUNT(*) FROM New_Table
WHILE (true)
BEGIN
IF #COUT = 0
BREAK;
SET #COUT = #COUT - 1
DECLARE #id INT
DECLARE #ini VARCHAR(20)
SET #id = (SELECT id FROM New_Table);
SET #ini = (SELECT Initials FROM New_Table);
IF (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Original_Table WHERE id=#id ) > 0
UPDATE SET ID = #id,Initials = #ini FROM Original_Table WHERE id = #id;
insert into Original_Table values(#id,#ini);
END
GO