How to group several INSERTs? - sql

Question

I'm inserting data from one table into several others. The first insert will create a new userid. This new userid will be used in succeeding inserts. I will also continue inserting username from the source table into other tables. The chain of inserts below are for one user. There will be probably 2000 users involved.
I'm familiar with how this can be done using a cursor. Is there some other way to do this chain of inserts without a cursor?
insert into table 1 using #username and #firstname from source table
insert into table 2 using userid generated from table 1 (userid1)
insert into table 3 using #username and userid1
insert into table 4 using userid1

Answer 1

You can use the Output Clause of an Insert statement to capture generated Ids in bulk.
For example:
Create Table dbo.Source (
FirstName nvarchar(100),
LastName nvarchar(100)
);
Create Table dbo.Attrs (
Id int Identity Not Null Primary Key,
Name nvarchar(100) Not Null,
DefaultVal nvarchar(100)
);
Create Table dbo.Table1 (
Id Int Identity Not Null Primary Key,
FirstName nvarchar(100),
LastName nvarchar(100)
);
Create Table dbo.Table2 (
Id int Identity Not Null Primary Key,
Table1ID int Not Null Foreign Key References dbo.Table1 (Id),
AttrId int Not Null Foreign Key References dbo.Attrs (Id)
);
Insert Into dbo.Source Values
(N'Mickey', N'Mouse'),
(N'Donald', N'Duck'),
(N'Goofy', Null);
Insert Into dbo.Attrs Values
('Size', 'Small'),
('Wings', 'No');
Declare #Temp1 Table (Id Int, FirstName nvarchar(100), LastName nvarchar(100))
Declare #Temp2 Table (Id int, Table1ID int, AttrId int)
Insert Into dbo.Table1
(FirstName, LastName)
Output
inserted.Id, inserted.FirstName, inserted.LastName
Into
#Temp1
Select
FirstName, LastName
From
dbo.Source
Insert Into dbo.Table2
(Table1ID, AttrId)
Output
inserted.Id, Inserted.Table1ID, Inserted.AttrID
Into
#Temp2
Select
t.Id,
a.Id
From
#Temp1 t
Cross Join
dbo.Attrs a
Select * From #Temp2
http://sqlfiddle.com/#!3/31110/3