[sql] INSERT VALUES WHERE NOT EXISTS

OK so I'm trying to improve my asp data entry page to ensure that the entry going into my data table is unique.

So in this table I have SoftwareName and SoftwareType. I'm trying to get it so if the entry page sends an insert query with parameters that match whats in the table (so same title and type) then an error is thrown up and the Data isn't entered.

Something like this:

INSERT INTO tblSoftwareTitles( 
            SoftwareName,  
            SoftwareSystemType) 
            VALUES(@SoftwareName,@SoftwareType) 
            WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT SoftwareName 
            FROM tblSoftwareTitles 
            WHERE Softwarename = @SoftwareName 
            AND SoftwareType = @Softwaretype)

So this syntax works great for selecting columns from one table into another without duplicates being entered but doesn't seem to want to work with a parametrized insert query. Can anyone help me out with this?

Edit:

Here's the code I'm using in my ASP insert method

    private void ExecuteInsert(string name, string type)
{
    //Creates a new connection using the HWM string
    using (SqlConnection HWM = new SqlConnection(GetConnectionStringHWM()))
    {
        //Creates a sql string with parameters
        string sql = " INSERT INTO tblSoftwareTitles( "
                   + " SoftwareName, " 
                   + " SoftwareSystemType) "
                   + " SELECT "
                   + " @SoftwareName, "
                   + " @SoftwareType "
                   + " WHERE   NOT EXISTS  "
                   + " ( SELECT  1 "
                   + " FROM tblSoftwareTitles "
                   + " WHERE Softwarename = @SoftwareName "
                   + " AND SoftwareSystemType = @Softwaretype); ";         

        //Opens the connection
        HWM.Open();
        try
        {
            //Creates a Sql command
            using (SqlCommand addSoftware = new SqlCommand{
                CommandType = CommandType.Text,
                Connection = HWM,
                CommandTimeout = 300,
                CommandText = sql})
            {
                //adds parameters to the Sql command
                addSoftware.Parameters.Add("@SoftwareName", SqlDbType.NVarChar, 200).Value = name;
                addSoftware.Parameters.Add("@SoftwareType", SqlDbType.Int).Value = type;
                //Executes the Sql
                addSoftware.ExecuteNonQuery();
            }
            Alert.Show("Software title saved!");
        }
        catch (System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException ex)
        {
            string msg = "Insert Error:";
            msg += ex.Message;
            throw new Exception(msg);
        }

    }
}

Ingnoring the duplicated unique constraint isn't a solution?

INSERT IGNORE INTO tblSoftwareTitles...

There is a great solution for this problem ,You can use the Merge Keyword of Sql

Merge MyTargetTable hba
USING (SELECT Id = 8, Name = 'Product Listing Message') temp 
ON temp.Id = hba.Id
WHEN NOT matched THEN 
INSERT (Id, Name) VALUES (temp.Id, temp.Name);

You can check this before following, below is the sample

IF OBJECT_ID ('dbo.TargetTable') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE dbo.TargetTable
GO

CREATE TABLE dbo.TargetTable
    (
    Id   INT NOT NULL,
    Name VARCHAR (255) NOT NULL,
    CONSTRAINT PK_TargetTable PRIMARY KEY (Id)
    )
GO



INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('Unknown')
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('Mapping')
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('Update')
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('Message')
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('Switch')
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('Unmatched')
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TargetTable (Name)
VALUES ('ProductMessage')
GO


Merge MyTargetTable hba
USING (SELECT Id = 8, Name = 'Listing Message') temp 
ON temp.Id = hba.Id
WHEN NOT matched THEN 
INSERT (Id, Name) VALUES (temp.Id, temp.Name);

This isn't an answer. I just want to show that IF NOT EXISTS(...) INSERT method isn't safe. You have to execute first Session #1 and then Session #2. After v #2 you will see that without an UNIQUE index you could get duplicate pairs (SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType). Delay from session #1 is used to give you enough time to execute the second script (session #2). You could reduce this delay.

Session #1 (SSMS > New Query > F5 (Execute))

CREATE DATABASE DemoEXISTS;
GO
USE DemoEXISTS;
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.Software(
    SoftwareID INT PRIMARY KEY,
    SoftwareName NCHAR(400) NOT NULL,  
    SoftwareSystemType NVARCHAR(50) NOT NULL
);
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.Software(SoftwareID,SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType)
VALUES (1,'Dynamics AX 2009','ERP');
INSERT INTO dbo.Software(SoftwareID,SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType)
VALUES (2,'Dynamics NAV 2009','SCM');
INSERT INTO dbo.Software(SoftwareID,SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType)
VALUES (3,'Dynamics CRM 2011','CRM');
INSERT INTO dbo.Software(SoftwareID,SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType)
VALUES (4,'Dynamics CRM 2013','CRM');
INSERT INTO dbo.Software(SoftwareID,SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType)
VALUES (5,'Dynamics CRM 2015','CRM');
GO
/*
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IUN_Software_SoftwareName_SoftareSystemType
ON dbo.Software(SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType);
GO
*/

-- Session #1
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
    UPDATE  dbo.Software
    SET     SoftwareName='Dynamics CRM',
            SoftwareSystemType='CRM'    
    WHERE   SoftwareID=5;

    WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:15' -- 15 seconds delay; you have less than 15 seconds to switch SSMS window to session #2

    UPDATE  dbo.Software
    SET     SoftwareName='Dynamics AX',
            SoftwareSystemType='ERP'
    WHERE   SoftwareID=1;
COMMIT
--ROLLBACK
PRINT 'Session #1 results:';
SELECT *
FROM dbo.Software;

Session #2 (SSMS > New Query > F5 (Execute))

USE DemoEXISTS;
GO
-- Session #2
DECLARE 
    @SoftwareName NVARCHAR(100),  
    @SoftwareSystemType NVARCHAR(50);
SELECT
    @SoftwareName=N'Dynamics AX',
    @SoftwareSystemType=N'ERP';

PRINT 'Session #2 results:';
IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT *
    FROM dbo.Software s
    WHERE s.SoftwareName=@SoftwareName 
    AND s.SoftwareSystemType=@SoftwareSystemType)
BEGIN
    PRINT 'Session #2: INSERT';

    INSERT INTO dbo.Software(SoftwareID,SoftwareName,SoftwareSystemType)
    VALUES (6,@SoftwareName,@SoftwareSystemType);
END 
PRINT 'Session #2: FINISH';
SELECT  * 
FROM    dbo.Software;

Results:

Session #1 results:
SoftwareID  SoftwareName      SoftwareSystemType
----------- ----------------- ------------------
1           Dynamics AX       ERP
2           Dynamics NAV 2009 SCM
3           Dynamics CRM 2011 CRM
4           Dynamics CRM 2013 CRM
5           Dynamics CRM      CRM

Session #2 results:
Session #2: INSERT
Session #2: FINISH
SoftwareID  SoftwareName      SoftwareSystemType
----------- ----------------- ------------------
1           Dynamics AX       ERP <-- duplicate (row updated by session #1)
2           Dynamics NAV 2009 SCM
3           Dynamics CRM 2011 CRM
4           Dynamics CRM 2013 CRM
5           Dynamics CRM      CRM
6           Dynamics AX       ERP <-- duplicate (row inserted by session #2)

More of a comment link for suggested further reading...A really good blog article which benchmarks various ways of accomplishing this task can be found here.

They use a few techniques: "Insert Where Not Exists", "Merge" statement, "Insert Except", and your typical "left join" to see which way is the fastest to accomplish this task.

The example code used for each technique is as follows (straight copy/paste from their page) :

INSERT INTO #table1 (Id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData)
SELECT Id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData
FROM #table2
WHERE NOT EXISTS (Select Id, guidd From #table1 WHERE #table1.id = #table2.id)
-----------------------------------
MERGE #table1 as [Target]
USING  (select Id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData from #table2) as [Source]
(id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData)
    on [Target].id =[Source].id
WHEN NOT MATCHED THEN
    INSERT (id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData)
    VALUES ([Source].id, [Source].guidd, [Source].TimeAdded, [Source].ExtraData);
------------------------------
INSERT INTO #table1 (id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData)
SELECT id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData from #table2
EXCEPT
SELECT id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData from #table1
------------------------------
INSERT INTO #table1 (id, guidd, TimeAdded, ExtraData)
SELECT #table2.id, #table2.guidd, #table2.TimeAdded, #table2.ExtraData
FROM #table2
LEFT JOIN #table1 on #table1.id = #table2.id
WHERE #table1.id is null

It's a good read for those who are looking for speed! On SQL 2014, the Insert-Except method turned out to be the fastest for 50 million or more records.