Oracle: how to UPSERT (update or insert into a table?) - sql

Question

The UPSERT operation either updates or inserts a row in a table, depending if the table already has a row that matches the data:
if table t has a row exists that has key X:
update t set mystuff... where mykey=X
else
insert into t mystuff...
Since Oracle doesn't have a specific UPSERT statement, what's the best way to do this?

Answer 1

The MERGE statement merges data between two tables. Using DUAL
allows us to use this command. Note that this is not protected against concurrent access.
create or replace
procedure ups(xa number)
as
begin
merge into mergetest m using dual on (a = xa)
when not matched then insert (a,b) values (xa,1)
when matched then update set b = b+1;
end ups;
/
drop table mergetest;
create table mergetest(a number, b number);
call ups(10);
call ups(10);
call ups(20);
select * from mergetest;
A B
---------------------- ----------------------
10 2
20 1

Answer 2

The dual example above which is in PL/SQL was great becuase I wanted to do something similar, but I wanted it client side...so here is the SQL I used to send a similar statement direct from some C#
MERGE INTO Employee USING dual ON ( "id"=2097153 )
WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET "last"="smith" , "name"="john"
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN INSERT ("id","last","name")
VALUES ( 2097153,"smith", "john" )
However from a C# perspective this provide to be slower than doing the update and seeing if the rows affected was 0 and doing the insert if it was.

Answer 3

An alternative to MERGE (the "old fashioned way"):
begin
insert into t (mykey, mystuff)
values ('X', 123);
exception
when dup_val_on_index then
update t
set mystuff = 123
where mykey = 'X';
end;

Answer 4

Another alternative without the exception check:
UPDATE tablename
SET val1 = in_val1,
val2 = in_val2
WHERE val3 = in_val3;
IF ( sql%rowcount = 0 )
THEN
INSERT INTO tablename
VALUES (in_val1, in_val2, in_val3);
END IF;

Answer 5

insert if not exists
update:
INSERT INTO mytable (id1, t1)
SELECT 11, 'x1' FROM DUAL
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT id1 FROM mytble WHERE id1 = 11);
UPDATE mytable SET t1 = 'x1' WHERE id1 = 11;

Answer 6

None of the answers given so far is safe in the face of concurrent accesses, as pointed out in Tim Sylvester's comment, and will raise exceptions in case of races. To fix that, the insert/update combo must be wrapped in some kind of loop statement, so that in case of an exception the whole thing is retried.
As an example, here's how Grommit's code can be wrapped in a loop to make it safe when run concurrently:
PROCEDURE MyProc (
...
) IS
BEGIN
LOOP
BEGIN
MERGE INTO Employee USING dual ON ( "id"=2097153 )
WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET "last"="smith" , "name"="john"
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN INSERT ("id","last","name")
VALUES ( 2097153,"smith", "john" );
EXIT; -- success? -> exit loop
EXCEPTION
WHEN NO_DATA_FOUND THEN -- the entry was concurrently deleted
NULL; -- exception? -> no op, i.e. continue looping
WHEN DUP_VAL_ON_INDEX THEN -- an entry was concurrently inserted
NULL; -- exception? -> no op, i.e. continue looping
END;
END LOOP;
END;
N.B. In transaction mode SERIALIZABLE, which I don't recommend btw, you might run into
ORA-08177: can't serialize access for this transaction exceptions instead.

Answer 7

I'd like Grommit answer, except it require dupe values. I found solution where it may appear once: http://forums.devshed.com/showpost.php?p=1182653&postcount=2
MERGE INTO KBS.NUFUS_MUHTARLIK B
USING (
SELECT '028-01' CILT, '25' SAYFA, '6' KUTUK, '46603404838' MERNIS_NO
FROM DUAL
) E
ON (B.MERNIS_NO = E.MERNIS_NO)
WHEN MATCHED THEN
UPDATE SET B.CILT = E.CILT, B.SAYFA = E.SAYFA, B.KUTUK = E.KUTUK
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN
INSERT ( CILT, SAYFA, KUTUK, MERNIS_NO)
VALUES (E.CILT, E.SAYFA, E.KUTUK, E.MERNIS_NO);

Answer 8

I've been using the first code sample for years. Notice notfound rather than count.
UPDATE tablename SET val1 = in_val1, val2 = in_val2
WHERE val3 = in_val3;
IF ( sql%notfound ) THEN
INSERT INTO tablename
VALUES (in_val1, in_val2, in_val3);
END IF;
The code below is the possibly new and improved code
MERGE INTO tablename USING dual ON ( val3 = in_val3 )
WHEN MATCHED THEN UPDATE SET val1 = in_val1, val2 = in_val2
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN INSERT
VALUES (in_val1, in_val2, in_val3)
In the first example the update does an index lookup. It has to, in order to update the right row. Oracle opens an implicit cursor, and we use it to wrap a corresponding insert so we know that the insert will only happen when the key does not exist. But the insert is an independent command and it has to do a second lookup. I don't know the inner workings of the merge command but since the command is a single unit, Oracle could execute the correct insert or update with a single index lookup.
I think merge is better when you do have some processing to be done that means taking data from some tables and updating a table, possibly inserting or deleting rows. But for the single row case, you may consider the first case since the syntax is more common.

Answer 9

A note regarding the two solutions that suggest:
1) Insert, if exception then update,
or
2) Update, if sql%rowcount = 0 then insert
The question of whether to insert or update first is also application dependent. Are you expecting more inserts or more updates? The one that is most likely to succeed should go first.
If you pick the wrong one you will get a bunch of unnecessary index reads. Not a huge deal but still something to consider.

Answer 10

Try this,
insert into b_building_property (
select
'AREA_IN_COMMON_USE_DOUBLE','Area in Common Use','DOUBLE', null, 9000, 9
from dual
)
minus
(
select * from b_building_property where id = 9
)
;

Answer 11

From http://www.praetoriate.com/oracle_tips_upserts.htm:
"In Oracle9i, an UPSERT can accomplish this task in a single statement:"
INSERT
FIRST WHEN
credit_limit >=100000
THEN INTO
rich_customers
VALUES(cust_id,cust_credit_limit)
INTO customers
ELSE
INTO customers SELECT * FROM new_customers;