Update multiple table column values using single query - sql

Question

How would you update data in multiple tables using a single query?
MySQL Example
The equivalent code in MySQL:
UPDATE party p
LEFT JOIN party_name n ON p.party_id = n.party_id
LEFT JOIN party_details d ON p.party_id = d.party_id
LEFT JOIN incident_participant ip ON ip.party_id = p.party_id
LEFT JOIN incident i ON ip.incident_id = i.incident_id
SET
p.employee_id = NULL,
c.em_address = 'x#x.org',
c.ad_postal = 'x',
n.first_name = 'x',
n.last_name = 'x'
WHERE
i.confidential_dt IS NOT NULL
What would be the same statement using Oracle 11g?
Thank you!
RTFM
It seems a single query is insufficient when using Oracle:
http://download-west.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10501_01/server.920/a96540/statements_108a.htm#2067717

Answer 1

/** XXX CODING HORROR... */
Depending on your needs, you could use an updateable view. You create a view of your base tables and add an "instead of" trigger to this view and you update the view directly.
Some example tables:
create table party (
party_id integer,
employee_id integer
);
create table party_name (
party_id integer,
first_name varchar2(120 char),
last_name varchar2(120 char)
);
insert into party values (1,1000);
insert into party values (2,2000);
insert into party values (3,3000);
insert into party_name values (1,'Kipper','Family');
insert into party_name values (2,'Biff','Family');
insert into party_name values (3,'Chip','Family');
commit;
select * from party_v;
PARTY_ID EMPLOYEE_ID FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME
1 1000 Kipper Family
2 2000 Biff Family
3 3000 Chip Family
... then create an updateable view
create or replace view party_v
as
select
p.party_id,
p.employee_id,
n.first_name,
n.last_name
from
party p left join party_name n on p.party_id = n.party_id;
create or replace trigger trg_party_update
instead of update on party_v
for each row
declare
begin
--
update party
set
party_id = :new.party_id,
employee_id = :new.employee_id
where
party_id = :old.party_id;
--
update party_name
set
party_id = :new.party_id,
first_name = :new.first_name,
last_name = :new.last_name
where
party_id = :old.party_id;
--
end;
/
You can now update the view directly...
update party_v
set
employee_id = 42,
last_name = 'Oxford'
where
party_id = 1;
select * from party_v;
PARTY_ID EMPLOYEE_ID FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME
1 42 Kipper Oxford
2 2000 Biff Family
3 3000 Chip Family

Answer 2

I was having the same problem I couldn't find a easy way to do this in Oracle.
Look here:
Oracle Update Statements for more info.

Answer 3

You could use Oracle MERGE statement to do this. It is a bulk update-or-insert kind of statement based on joining the target table with an inline view.
MERGE INTO bonuses D
USING (
SELECT employee_id, salary, department_id FROM employees
WHERE department_id = 80
) S ON (D.employee_id = S.employee_id)
WHEN MATCHED THEN
UPDATE SET D.bonus = D.bonus + S.salary*.01
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN
INSERT (D.employee_id, D.bonus)
VALUES (S.employee_id, S.salary*0.1);
if you do not need the insert part, you just omit the last 3 lines above.

Answer 4

In some cases it's possible to use PL/SQL to achieve this. In my case I searched for matching rows in two tables by some criteria, then updated each row in a loop.
Something like this:
begin
for r in (
select t1.id as t1_id, t2.id as t2_id
from t1, t2
where ...
) loop
update t1
set ...
where t1.id = r.t1_id;
update t2
set ...
where t2.id = r.t2_id;
end loop;
end;