I want to update a column in a table making a join on other table e.g.:
UPDATE table1 a
INNER JOIN table2 b ON a.commonfield = b.[common field]
SET a.CalculatedColumn= b.[Calculated Column]
WHERE
b.[common field]= a.commonfield
AND a.BatchNO = '110'
But it is complaining :
Msg 170, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Line 2: Incorrect syntax near 'a'.
What is wrong here?
This question is related to
sql-server
tsql
join
sql-update
I had the same issue.. and you don't need to add a physical column.. cuz now you will have to maintain it.. what you can do is add a generic column in the select query:
EX:
select tb1.col1, tb1.col2, tb1.col3 ,
(
select 'Match' from table2 as tbl2
where tbl1.col1 = tbl2.col1 and tab1.col2 = tbl2.col2
)
from myTable as tbl1
Seems like SQL Server 2012 can handle the old update syntax of Teradata too:
UPDATE a
SET a.CalculatedColumn= b.[Calculated Column]
FROM table1 a, table2 b
WHERE
b.[common field]= a.commonfield
AND a.BatchNO = '110'
If I remember correctly, 2008R2 was giving error when I tried similar query.
Another approach would be to use MERGE
;WITH cteTable1(CalculatedColumn, CommonField)
AS
(
select CalculatedColumn, CommonField from Table1 Where BatchNo = '110'
)
MERGE cteTable1 AS target
USING (select "Calculated Column", "Common Field" FROM dbo.Table2) AS source ("Calculated Column", "Common Field")
ON (target.CommonField = source."Common Field")
WHEN MATCHED THEN
UPDATE SET target.CalculatedColumn = source."Calculated Column";
-Merge is part of the SQL Standard
-Also I'm pretty sure inner join updates are non deterministic.. Similar question here where the answer talks about that http://ask.sqlservercentral.com/questions/19089/updating-two-tables-using-single-query.html
I find it useful to turn an UPDATE into a SELECT to get the rows I want to update as a test before updating. If I can select the exact rows I want, I can update just those rows I want to update.
DECLARE @expense_report_id AS INT
SET @expense_report_id = 1027
--UPDATE expense_report_detail_distribution
--SET service_bill_id = 9
SELECT *
FROM expense_report_detail_distribution erdd
INNER JOIN expense_report_detail erd
INNER JOIN expense_report er
ON er.expense_report_id = erd.expense_report_id
ON erdd.expense_report_detail_id = erd.expense_report_detail_id
WHERE er.expense_report_id = @expense_report_id
UPDATE mytable
SET myfield = CASE other_field
WHEN 1 THEN 'value'
WHEN 2 THEN 'value'
WHEN 3 THEN 'value'
END
From mytable
Join otherTable on otherTable.id = mytable.id
Where othertable.somecolumn = '1234'
More alternatives here.
Answer given above by Aaron is perfect:
UPDATE a
SET a.CalculatedColumn = b.[Calculated Column]
FROM Table1 AS a
INNER JOIN Table2 AS b
ON a.CommonField = b.[Common Field]
WHERE a.BatchNo = '110';
Just want to add why this problem occurs in SQL Server when we try to use alias of a table while updating that table, below mention syntax will always give error:
update tableName t
set t.name = 'books new'
where t.id = 1
case can be any if you are updating a single table or updating while using join.
Although above query will work fine in PL/SQL but not in SQL Server.
Correct way to update a table while using table alias in SQL Server is:
update t
set t.name = 'books new'
from tableName t
where t.id = 1
Hope it will help everybody why error came here.
Aaron's approach above worked perfectly for me. My update statement was slightly different because I needed to join based on two fields concatenated in one table to match a field in another table.
--update clients table cell field from custom table containing mobile numbers
update clients
set cell = m.Phone
from clients as c
inner join [dbo].[COSStaffMobileNumbers] as m
on c.Last_Name + c.First_Name = m.Name
Try:
UPDATE table1
SET CalculatedColumn = ( SELECT [Calculated Column]
FROM table2
WHERE table1.commonfield = [common field])
WHERE BatchNO = '110'
MERGE table1 T
USING table2 S
ON T.CommonField = S."Common Field"
AND T.BatchNo = '110'
WHEN MATCHED THEN
UPDATE
SET CalculatedColumn = S."Calculated Column";
Try it like this:
UPDATE a
SET a.CalculatedColumn= b.[Calculated Column]
FROM table1 a INNER JOIN table2 b ON a.commonfield = b.[common field]
WHERE a.BatchNO = '110'
Source: Stackoverflow.com