What is the best way to auto-generate INSERT statements for a SQL Server table

Question

We are writing a new application  and while testing  we will need a bunch of dummy data  I ve added that data by using MS Access to dump excel files into the relevant tables   Every so often  we want to  refresh  the relevant tables  which means dropping them all  re-creating them  and running a saved MS Access append query   The first part  dropping  amp  re-creating  is an easy sql script  but the last part makes me cringe  I want a single setup script that has a bunch of INSERTs to regenerate the dummy data   I have the data in the tables now  What is the best way to automatically generate a big list of INSERT statements from that dataset   The only way I can think of doing it is to save the table to an excel sheet and then write an excel formula to create an INSERT for every row  which is surely not the best way   I m using the 2008 Management Studio to connect to a SQL Server 2005 database

User · Answer

There are many good scripts above for generating insert statements, but I attempted one of my own to make it as user friendly as possible and to also be able to do UPDATE statements. + package the result ready for .sql files that can be stored by date.

It takes as input your normal SELECT statement with WHERE clause, then outputs a list of Insert statements and update statements. Together they form a sort of IF NOT EXISTS () INSERT ELSE UPDATE It is handy too when there are non-updatable columns that need exclusion from the final INSERT/UPDATE statement.

Another thing that below script can do is: it can even handle INNER JOINs with other tables as input statement for the stored proc. It can be handy as a poor man's Release management tool that sits right at your finger tips where you are typing the sql SELECT statements all day.

original post : Generate UPDATE statement in SQL Server for specific table

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_generate_updates] (
    @fullquery              nvarchar(max) = '',
    @ignore_field_input     nvarchar(MAX) = '',
    @PK_COLUMN_NAME         nvarchar(MAX) = ''
)
AS

SET NOCOUNT ON
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
/*
-- For Standard USAGE: (where clause is mandatory)
                EXEC [sp_generate_updates] 'select * from dbo.mytable where mytext=''1''  ' 
        OR
                SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF 
                EXEC [sp_generate_updates] "select * from dbo.mytable where mytext='1'    "

-- For ignoring specific columns  (to ignore in the UPDATE and INSERT SQL statement) 
                EXEC [sp_generate_updates] 'select * from dbo.mytable where 1=1  ' , 'Column01,Column02'

-- For just updates without insert statement (replace the * )
                EXEC [sp_generate_updates] 'select Column01, Column02 from dbo.mytable where 1=1  ' 

-- For tables without a primary key: construct the key in the third variable
                EXEC [sp_generate_updates] 'select * from dbo.mytable where 1=1  '  ,'','your_chosen_primary_key_Col1,key_Col2'

-- For complex updates with JOINED tables 
                EXEC [sp_generate_updates] 'select o1.Name,  o1.category, o2.name+ '_hello_world' as #name 
                                            from overnightsetting o1 
                                            inner join overnightsetting o2  on o1.name=o2.name  
                                            where o1.name like '%appserver%' 
                (REMARK about above:   the use of # in front of a column name (so #abc) can do an update of that columname (abc) with any column from an inner joined table where you use the alias #abc )


-------------README for the deeper interested person:
            Goal of the Stored PROCEDURE is to get updates from simple SQL SELECT statements. It is made ot be simple but fast and powerfull. As always => power is nothing without control, so check before you execute.
            Its power sits also in the fact that you can make insert statements, so combined gives you a  "IF NOT EXISTS()  INSERT "   capability. 

            The scripts work were there are primary keys or identity columns on table you want to update (/ or make inserts for).
            It will also works when no primary keys / identity column exist(s) and you define them yourselve. But then be carefull (duplicate hits can occur). When the table has a primary key it will always be used.
            The script works with a real  temporary table, made on the fly   (APPROPRIATE RIGHTS needed), to put the values inside from the script, then add 3 columns for constructing the "insert into tableX (...) values ()" ,  and the 2 update statement.
            We work with temporary structures like   "where columnname = {Columnname}" and then later do the update on that temptable for the columns values found on that same line.
                    example  "where columnname = {Columnname}"  for birthdate becomes   "where birthdate = {birthdate}" an then we find the birthdate value on that line inside the temp table.
            So then the statement becomes  "where birthdate = {19800417}"
            Enjoy releasing scripts as of now...                                        by  Pieter van Nederkassel  - freeware "CC BY-SA" (+use at own risk)
*/
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#ignore','U') IS NOT NULL     DROP TABLE #ignore
DECLARE @stringsplit_table               TABLE (col nvarchar(255), dtype  nvarchar(255)) -- table to store the primary keys or identity key
DECLARE @PK_condition                    nvarchar(512), -- placeholder for WHERE pk_field1 = pk_value1 AND pk_field2 = pk_value2 AND ...
        @pkstring                        NVARCHAR(512),  -- sting to store the primary keys or the idendity key
        @table_name                      nvarchar(512), -- (left) table name, including schema
        @table_N_where_clause            nvarchar(max), -- tablename 
        @table_alias                     nvarchar(512), -- holds the (left) table alias if one available, else @table_name
        @table_schema                    NVARCHAR(30),  -- schema of @table_name
        @update_list1                    NVARCHAR(MAX), -- placeholder for SET fields section of update
        @update_list2                    NVARCHAR(MAX), -- placeholder for SET fields section of update value comming from other tables in the join, other than the main table to update => updateof base table possible with inner join
        @list_all_cols                   BIT = 0,       -- placeholder for values for the insert into table VALUES command
        @select_list                     NVARCHAR(MAX), -- placeholder for SELECT fields of (left) table
        @COLUMN_NAME                     NVARCHAR(255), -- will hold column names of the (left) table
        @sql                             NVARCHAR(MAX), -- sql statement variable
        @getdate                         NVARCHAR(17),  -- transform getdate() to YYYYMMDDHHMMSSMMM
        @tmp_table                       NVARCHAR(255), -- will hold the name of a physical temp table
        @pk_separator                    NVARCHAR(1),   -- separator used in @PK_COLUMN_NAME if provided (only checking obvious ones ,;|-)
        @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE           NVARCHAR(100), -- needed for insert statements to convert to right text string
        @own_pk                          BIT = 0        -- check if table has PK (0) or if provided PK will be used (1)




set @ignore_field_input=replace(replace(replace(@ignore_field_input,' ',''),'[',''),']','')
set @PK_COLUMN_NAME=    replace(replace(replace(@PK_COLUMN_NAME,    ' ',''),'[',''),']','')

-- first we remove all linefeeds from the user query
set @fullquery=replace(replace(replace(@fullquery,char(10),''),char(13),' '),'  ',' ')
set @table_N_where_clause=@fullquery
if charindex ('order by' , @table_N_where_clause) > 0
    print ' WARNING:        ORDER BY NOT ALLOWED IN UPDATE ...'
if @PK_COLUMN_NAME <> ''
    select ' WARNING:        IF you select your own primary keys, make double sure before doing the update statements below!! '
--print @table_N_where_clause
if charindex ('select ' , @table_N_where_clause) = 0
    set @table_N_where_clause= 'select * from ' + @table_N_where_clause
if charindex ('select ' , @table_N_where_clause) > 0
    exec (@table_N_where_clause)

set @table_N_where_clause=rtrim(ltrim(substring(@table_N_where_clause,CHARINDEX(' from ', @table_N_where_clause )+6, 4000)))
--print @table_N_where_clause 
set @table_name=left(@table_N_where_clause,CHARINDEX(' ', @table_N_where_clause )-1)


IF CHARINDEX('where ', @table_N_where_clause) > 0             SELECT @table_alias = LTRIM(RTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(SUBSTRING(@table_N_where_clause,1, CHARINDEX('where ', @table_N_where_clause )-1),'(nolock)',''),@table_name,'')))
IF CHARINDEX('join ',  @table_alias) > 0                      SELECT @table_alias = SUBSTRING(@table_alias, 1, CHARINDEX(' ', @table_alias)-1) -- until next space
IF LEN(@table_alias) = 0                                      SELECT @table_alias = @table_name
IF (charindex (' *' , @fullquery) > 0 or charindex (@table_alias+'.*' , @fullquery) > 0 )     set @list_all_cols=1
/*       
       print @fullquery     
       print @table_alias
       print @table_N_where_clause
       print @table_name
*/


-- Prepare PK condition
        SELECT @table_schema = CASE WHEN CHARINDEX('.',@table_name) > 0 THEN LEFT(@table_name, CHARINDEX('.',@table_name)-1) ELSE 'dbo' END

        SELECT @PK_condition = ISNULL(@PK_condition + ' AND ', '') + QUOTENAME('pk_'+COLUMN_NAME) + ' = ' + QUOTENAME('pk_'+COLUMN_NAME,'{')
        FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE
        WHERE OBJECTPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA + '.' + QUOTENAME(CONSTRAINT_NAME)), 'IsPrimaryKey') = 1
        AND TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
        AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema

        SELECT @pkstring = ISNULL(@pkstring + ', ', '') + @table_alias + '.' + QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) + ' AS pk_' + COLUMN_NAME
        FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE i1
        WHERE OBJECTPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(i1.CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA + '.' + QUOTENAME(i1.CONSTRAINT_NAME)), 'IsPrimaryKey') = 1
        AND i1.TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
        AND i1.TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema

            -- if no primary keys exist then we try for identity columns
                IF @PK_condition is null SELECT @PK_condition = ISNULL(@PK_condition + ' AND ', '') + QUOTENAME('pk_'+COLUMN_NAME) + ' = ' + QUOTENAME('pk_'+COLUMN_NAME,'{')
                FROM  INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
                WHERE COLUMNPROPERTY(object_id(TABLE_SCHEMA+'.'+TABLE_NAME), COLUMN_NAME, 'IsIdentity') = 1 
                AND TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
                AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema

                IF @pkstring is null SELECT @pkstring = ISNULL(@pkstring + ', ', '') + @table_alias + '.' + QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME) + ' AS pk_' + COLUMN_NAME
                FROM  INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
                WHERE COLUMNPROPERTY(object_id(TABLE_SCHEMA+'.'+TABLE_NAME), COLUMN_NAME, 'IsIdentity') = 1 
                AND TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
                AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema
-- Same but in form of a table

        INSERT INTO @stringsplit_table
        SELECT 'pk_'+i1.COLUMN_NAME as col, i2.DATA_TYPE as dtype
        FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE i1
        inner join INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS i2
        on  i1.TABLE_NAME = i2.TABLE_NAME AND i1.TABLE_SCHEMA =  i2.TABLE_SCHEMA
        WHERE OBJECTPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(i1.CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA + '.' + QUOTENAME(i1.CONSTRAINT_NAME)), 'IsPrimaryKey') = 1
        AND i1.TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
        AND i1.TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema

                -- if no primary keys exist then we try for identity columns
                IF 0=(select count(*) from @stringsplit_table) INSERT INTO @stringsplit_table
                SELECT 'pk_'+i2.COLUMN_NAME as col, i2.DATA_TYPE as dtype
                FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS i2
                WHERE COLUMNPROPERTY(object_id(i2.TABLE_SCHEMA+'.'+i2.TABLE_NAME), i2.COLUMN_NAME, 'IsIdentity') = 1 
                AND i2.TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
                AND i2.TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema

-- NOW handling the primary key given as parameter to the main batch

SELECT @pk_separator = ',' -- take this as default, we'll check lower if it's a different one
IF (@PK_condition IS NULL OR @PK_condition = '') AND @PK_COLUMN_NAME <> ''
BEGIN
    IF CHARINDEX(';', @PK_COLUMN_NAME) > 0
        SELECT @pk_separator = ';'
    ELSE IF CHARINDEX('|', @PK_COLUMN_NAME) > 0
        SELECT @pk_separator = '|'
    ELSE IF CHARINDEX('-', @PK_COLUMN_NAME) > 0
        SELECT @pk_separator = '-'

    SELECT @PK_condition = NULL -- make sure to make it NULL, in case it was ''
    INSERT INTO @stringsplit_table
    SELECT LTRIM(RTRIM(x.value)) , 'datetime'  FROM STRING_SPLIT(@PK_COLUMN_NAME, @pk_separator) x  
    SELECT @PK_condition = ISNULL(@PK_condition + ' AND ', '') + QUOTENAME(x.col) + ' = ' + replace(QUOTENAME(x.col,'{'),'{','{pk_')
      FROM @stringsplit_table x

    SELECT @PK_COLUMN_NAME = NULL -- make sure to make it NULL, in case it was ''
    SELECT @PK_COLUMN_NAME = ISNULL(@PK_COLUMN_NAME + ', ', '') + QUOTENAME(x.col) + ' as pk_' + x.col
      FROM @stringsplit_table x
    --print 'pkcolumns  '+ isnull(@PK_COLUMN_NAME,'')
    update @stringsplit_table set col='pk_' + col
    SELECT @own_pk = 1
END
ELSE IF (@PK_condition IS NULL OR @PK_condition = '') AND @PK_COLUMN_NAME = ''
BEGIN
    RAISERROR('No Primary key or Identity column available on table. Add some columns as the third parameter when calling this SP to make your own temporary PK., also remove  [] from tablename',17,1)
END


-- IF there are no primary keys or an identity key in the table active, then use the given columns as a primary key


if isnull(@pkstring,'')   = ''  set    @pkstring  = @PK_COLUMN_NAME
IF ISNULL(@pkstring, '') <> ''  SELECT @fullquery = REPLACE(@fullquery, 'SELECT ','SELECT ' + @pkstring + ',' )
--print @pkstring




-- ignore fields for UPDATE STATEMENT (not ignored for the insert statement,  in iserts statement we ignore only identity Columns and the columns provided with the main stored proc )
-- Place here all fields that you know can not be converted to nvarchar() values correctly, an thus should not be scripted for updates)
-- for insert we will take these fields along, although they will be incorrectly represented!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
SELECT           ignore_field = 'uniqueidXXXX' INTO #ignore 
UNION ALL SELECT ignore_field = 'UPDATEMASKXXXX'
UNION ALL SELECT ignore_field = 'UIDXXXXX'
UNION ALL SELECT value FROM  string_split(@ignore_field_input,@pk_separator)




SELECT @getdate = REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(30), GETDATE(), 121), '-', ''), ' ', ''), ':', ''), '.', '')
SELECT @tmp_table = 'Release_DATA__' + @getdate + '__' + REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 

SET @sql = replace( @fullquery,  ' from ',  ' INTO ' + @tmp_table +' from ')
----print (@sql)
exec (@sql)



SELECT @sql = N'alter table ' + @tmp_table + N'  add update_stmt1  nvarchar(max), update_stmt2 nvarchar(max) , update_stmt3 nvarchar(max)'
EXEC (@sql)

-- Prepare update field list (only columns from the temp table are taken if they also exist in the base table to update)
SELECT @update_list1 = ISNULL(@update_list1 + ', ', '') + 
                      CASE WHEN C1.COLUMN_NAME = 'ModifiedBy' THEN '[ModifiedBy] = left(right(replace(CONVERT(VARCHAR(19),[Modified],121),''''-'''',''''''''),19) +''''-''''+right(SUSER_NAME(),30),50)'
                           WHEN C1.COLUMN_NAME = 'Modified' THEN '[Modified] = GETDATE()'
                           ELSE QUOTENAME(C1.COLUMN_NAME) + ' = ' + QUOTENAME(C1.COLUMN_NAME,'{')
                      END
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS c1
inner join INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS c2
on c1.COLUMN_NAME =c2.COLUMN_NAME and c2.TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','')  AND c2.TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema
WHERE c1.TABLE_NAME = @tmp_table --REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
AND QUOTENAME(c1.COLUMN_NAME) NOT IN (SELECT QUOTENAME(ignore_field) FROM #ignore) -- eliminate binary, image etc value here
AND COLUMNPROPERTY(object_id(c2.TABLE_SCHEMA+'.'+c2.TABLE_NAME), c2.COLUMN_NAME, 'IsIdentity') <> 1
AND NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 
                  FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE ku 
                 WHERE 1 = 1
                   AND ku.TABLE_NAME = c2.TABLE_NAME
                   AND ku.TABLE_SCHEMA = c2.TABLE_SCHEMA
                   AND ku.COLUMN_NAME = c2.COLUMN_NAME
                   AND OBJECTPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(ku.CONSTRAINT_SCHEMA + '.' + QUOTENAME(ku.CONSTRAINT_NAME)), 'IsPrimaryKey') = 1)
AND NOT EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM @stringsplit_table x WHERE x.col = c2.COLUMN_NAME AND @own_pk = 1)

-- Prepare update field list  (here we only take columns that commence with a #, as this is our queue for doing the update that comes from an inner joined table)
SELECT @update_list2 = ISNULL(@update_list2 + ', ', '') +  QUOTENAME(replace( C1.COLUMN_NAME,'#','')) + ' = ' + QUOTENAME(C1.COLUMN_NAME,'{')
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS c1
WHERE c1.TABLE_NAME = @tmp_table --AND c1.TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema
AND QUOTENAME(c1.COLUMN_NAME) NOT IN (SELECT QUOTENAME(ignore_field) FROM #ignore) -- eliminate binary, image etc value here
AND c1.COLUMN_NAME like '#%'

-- similar for select list, but take all fields
SELECT @select_list = ISNULL(@select_list + ', ', '') + QUOTENAME(COLUMN_NAME)
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS c
WHERE TABLE_NAME = REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') 
AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema
AND COLUMNPROPERTY(object_id(TABLE_SCHEMA+'.'+TABLE_NAME), COLUMN_NAME, 'IsIdentity') <> 1  -- Identity columns are filled automatically by MSSQL, not needed at Insert statement
AND QUOTENAME(c.COLUMN_NAME) NOT IN (SELECT QUOTENAME(ignore_field) FROM #ignore) -- eliminate binary, image etc value here


SELECT @PK_condition = REPLACE(@PK_condition, '[pk_', '[')
set @select_list='if not exists (select * from '+  REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') +'  where '+  @PK_condition +')  INSERT INTO '+ REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','')   + '('+ @select_list  + ') VALUES (' + replace(replace(@select_list,'[','{'),']','}') + ')'
SELECT @sql = N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + ' set update_stmt1 = ''' + @select_list + '''' 
if @list_all_cols=1 EXEC (@sql)



--print 'select==========  ' + @select_list
--print 'update==========  ' + @update_list1


SELECT @sql = N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N'
set update_stmt2 = CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),''UPDATE ' + @table_name + 
                                          N' SET ' + @update_list1 + N''' + ''' +
                                          N' WHERE ' + @PK_condition + N''') ' 

EXEC (@sql)
--print @sql



SELECT @sql = N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N'
set update_stmt3 = CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),''UPDATE ' + @table_name + 
                                          N' SET ' + @update_list2 + N''' + ''' +
                                          N' WHERE ' + @PK_condition + N''') ' 

EXEC (@sql)
--print @sql


-- LOOPING OVER ALL base tables column for the INSERT INTO .... VALUES
DECLARE c_columns CURSOR FAST_FORWARD READ_ONLY FOR
    SELECT COLUMN_NAME, DATA_TYPE
    FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
    WHERE TABLE_NAME = (CASE WHEN @list_all_cols=0 THEN @tmp_table ELSE REPLACE(@table_name,@table_schema+'.','') END )
    AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema
        UNION--pned
    SELECT col, 'datetime' FROM @stringsplit_table

OPEN c_columns
FETCH NEXT FROM c_columns INTO @COLUMN_NAME, @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
    SELECT @sql = 
    CASE WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('char','varchar','nchar','nvarchar')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('float','real','money','smallmoney')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],126)),   '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) '
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('uniqueidentifier')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('text','ntext')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('xxxx','yyyy')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('binary','varbinary')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('XML','xml')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],0)),     '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('datetime','smalldatetime')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],121)),   '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) '
    ELSE  
                  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt1 = REPLACE(update_stmt1, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) '
    END
    ----PRINT @sql
    EXEC (@sql)
    FETCH NEXT FROM c_columns INTO @COLUMN_NAME, @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE
END
CLOSE c_columns
DEALLOCATE c_columns

--SELECT col FROM @stringsplit_table -- these are the primary keys

-- LOOPING OVER ALL temp tables column for the Update values
DECLARE c_columns CURSOR FAST_FORWARD READ_ONLY FOR
    SELECT COLUMN_NAME,DATA_TYPE
    FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
    WHERE TABLE_NAME =  @tmp_table --    AND TABLE_SCHEMA = @table_schema
       UNION--pned
    SELECT col, 'datetime' FROM @stringsplit_table

OPEN c_columns
FETCH NEXT FROM c_columns INTO @COLUMN_NAME, @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
    SELECT @sql = 
    CASE WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('char','varchar','nchar','nvarchar')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('float','real','money','smallmoney')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],126)),   '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],126)),   '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')) '
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('uniqueidentifier')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('text','ntext')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('xxxx','yyyy')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('binary','varbinary')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('XML','xml')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],0)),     '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],0)),     '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
        WHEN @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE IN ('datetime','smalldatetime')
            THEN  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],121)),   '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'],121)),   '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
    ELSE    
                  N'UPDATE ' + @tmp_table + N' SET update_stmt2 = REPLACE(update_stmt2, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL'')), update_stmt3 = REPLACE(update_stmt3, ''{' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'}'', ISNULL('''''''' + REPLACE(RTRIM(CONVERT(NVARCHAR(MAX),[' + @COLUMN_NAME + N'])),       '''''''','''''''''''') + '''''''', ''NULL''))  ' 
    END
    EXEC (@sql)
    ----print @sql
    FETCH NEXT FROM c_columns INTO @COLUMN_NAME, @COLUMN_NAME_DATA_TYPE
END
CLOSE c_columns
DEALLOCATE c_columns

SET @sql = 'Select * from  ' + @tmp_table + ';'
--exec (@sql)

SELECT @sql = N'
IF OBJECT_ID(''' + @tmp_table + N''', ''U'') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
       SELECT   ''USE ' + DB_NAME()  + '''  as executelist 
              UNION ALL
       SELECT   ''GO ''  as executelist 
              UNION ALL
       SELECT   '' /*PRESCRIPT CHECK  */              ' + replace(@fullquery,'''','''''')+''' as executelist 
              UNION ALL
       SELECT update_stmt1 as executelist FROM ' + @tmp_table + N' where update_stmt1 is not null
              UNION ALL
       SELECT update_stmt2 as executelist FROM ' + @tmp_table + N' where update_stmt2 is not null
              UNION ALL
       SELECT isnull(update_stmt3, '' add more columns inn query please'')  as executelist FROM ' + @tmp_table + N' where update_stmt3 is not null
              UNION ALL
       SELECT ''--EXEC usp_AddInstalledScript 5, 5, 1, 1, 1, ''''' + @tmp_table + '.sql'''', 2 ''  as executelist
              UNION ALL 
       SELECT   '' /*VERIFY WITH:  */              ' + replace(@fullquery,'''','''''')+''' as executelist 
              UNION ALL
       SELECT ''-- SCRIPT LOCATION:      F:\CopyPaste\++Distributionpoint++\Release_Management\' + @tmp_table + '.sql''  as executelist   
END'
exec (@sql)

SET @sql = 'DROP TABLE ' + @tmp_table + ';'
exec (@sql)

User · Answer

I used this script which I have put on my blog  How-to generate Insert statement procedures on sql server     So far has worked for me  although they might be bugs I have not discovered yet

User · Answer

Microsoft should advertise this functionality of SSMS 2008  The feature you are looking for is built into the Generate Script utility  but the functionality is turned off by default and must be enabled when scripting a table   This is a quick run through to generate the INSERT statements for all of the data in your table  using no scripts or add-ins to SQL Management Studio 2008    Right-click on the database and go to Tasks   Generate Scripts  Select the tables  or objects  that you want to generate the script against  Go to Set scripting options tab and click on the Advanced button  In the General category  go to Type of data to script There are 3 options  Schema Only  Data Only  and Schema and Data  Select the appropriate option and click on OK     You will then get the CREATE TABLE statement and all of the INSERT statements for the data straight out of SSMS

User · Answer

You can generate INSERT or MERGE statement with this simple and free application I wrote a few years ago  Data Script Writer  Desktop Application for Windows    Also  I wrote a blog post about these tools recently and approach to leveraging SSDT for a deployment database with data  Find out more  Script and deploy the data for database from SSDT project

User · Answer

Don t use inserts  use BCP

User · Answer

I made a simple to use utility  hope you enjoy    It doesn t need to create any objects on the database  easy to use on production environment   You don t need to install anything  It s just a regular script  You don t need special permissions  Just regular read access is enough  Let you copy all the lines of a table  or specify WHERE conditions so only the lines you want will be generated  Let you specify a single or multiple tables and different condition statements to be generated    If the generated INSERT statements are being truncated  check the limit text length of the results on the Management Studio Options  Tools  gt  Options  Query Results  gt  SQL Server  gt  Results to Grid   Non XML data  value under  Maximum Characters Retrieved        -- Make sure you re on the correct database     SET NOCOUNT ON      BEGIN TRY     BEGIN TRANSACTION      DECLARE  Tables TABLE           TableName          varchar 50  NOT NULL          Arguments           varchar 1000  NULL             -- INSERT HERE THE TABLES AND CONDITIONS YOU WANT TO GENERATE THE INSERT STATEMENTS     INSERT INTO  Tables  TableName  Arguments  VALUES   table1    WHERE field1   3101928464        --  ADD MORE LINES IF YOU LIKE  INSERT INTO  Tables  TableName  Arguments  VALUES   table2    WHERE field2 IN  1  3  5            -- YOU DON T NEED TO EDIT FROM NOW ON      -- Generating the Script     DECLARE  TableName  varchar 50                Arguments  varchar 1000                ColumnName varchar 50                strSQL     varchar max                strSQL2    varchar max                Lap        int               Iden       int               TypeOfData int       DECLARE C1 CURSOR FOR     SELECT TableName  Arguments FROM  Tables     OPEN C1     FETCH NEXT FROM C1 INTO  TableName   Arguments      WHILE   FETCH STATUS   0     BEGIN          -- If you want to delete the lines before inserting  uncomment the next line         -- PRINT  DELETE FROM      TableName          Arguments          SET  strSQL    INSERT INTO      TableName                  -- List all the columns from the table  to the INSERT into columns             SET  Lap   0          DECLARE C2 CURSOR FOR         SELECT sc name  sc type FROM syscolumns sc INNER JOIN sysobjects so ON so id   sc id AND so name    TableName AND so type    U  WHERE sc colstat   0 ORDER BY sc colorder         OPEN C2         FETCH NEXT FROM C2 INTO  ColumnName   TypeOfData          WHILE   FETCH STATUS   0         BEGIN             IF  Lap gt 0              BEGIN                 SET  strSQL    strSQL                     END              SET  strSQL    strSQL    ColumnName              SET  Lap    Lap   1              FETCH NEXT FROM C2 INTO  ColumnName   TypeOfData          END         CLOSE C2         DEALLOCATE C2          SET  strSQL    strSQL               SET  strSQL2    SELECT        strSQL     SELECT                  -- List all the columns from the table again  for the SELECT that will be the input to the INSERT INTO statement          SET  Lap   0          DECLARE C2 CURSOR FOR         SELECT sc name  sc type FROM syscolumns sc INNER JOIN sysobjects so ON so id   sc id AND so name    TableName AND so type    U  WHERE sc colstat   0 ORDER BY sc colorder         OPEN C2         FETCH NEXT FROM C2 INTO  ColumnName   TypeOfData          WHILE   FETCH STATUS   0         BEGIN             IF  Lap gt 0              BEGIN                 SET  strSQL2    strSQL2                               END              -- For each data type  convert the data properly             IF  TypeOfData IN  55  106  56  108  63  38  109  50  48  52   -- Numbers                 SET  strSQL2    strSQL2    ISNULL CONVERT varchar max        ColumnName         NULL         as      ColumnName                     ELSE IF  TypeOfData IN  62   -- Float Numbers                 SET  strSQL2    strSQL2    ISNULL CONVERT varchar max   CONVERT decimal 18 5        ColumnName          NULL         as      ColumnName                     ELSE IF  TypeOfData IN  61  111   -- Datetime                 SET  strSQL2    strSQL2    ISNULL             CONVERT varchar max       ColumnName      121                NULL         as      ColumnName                     ELSE IF  TypeOfData IN  47  39   -- Texts                 SET  strSQL2    strSQL2    ISNULL            RTRIM LTRIM      ColumnName                     NULL         as      ColumnName                     ELSE -- Unknown data types                 SET  strSQL2    strSQL2    ISNULL CONVERT varchar max        ColumnName         NULL         as      ColumnName     INCORRECT TYPE     CONVERT varchar 10    TypeOfData                        SET  Lap    Lap   1              FETCH NEXT FROM C2 INTO  ColumnName   TypeOfData          END         CLOSE C2         DEALLOCATE C2          SET  strSQL2    strSQL2     as  --      TableName      FROM      TableName     WITH  NOLOCK       Arguments          SET  strSQL2    strSQL2                 --PRINT  strSQL          --PRINT  strSQL2          EXEC  strSQL2            FETCH NEXT FROM C1 INTO  TableName   Arguments      END     CLOSE C1     DEALLOCATE C1      ROLLBACK END TRY BEGIN CATCH     ROLLBACK TRAN     SELECT 0 AS Situacao      SELECT         ERROR NUMBER   AS ErrorNumber          ERROR SEVERITY   AS ErrorSeverity          ERROR STATE   AS ErrorState          ERROR PROCEDURE   AS ErrorProcedure          ERROR LINE   AS ErrorLine          ERROR MESSAGE   AS ErrorMessage           strSQL As strSQL           strSQL2 as strSQL2  END CATCH

User · Answer

This can be done using Visual Studio too  at least in version 2013 onwards    In VS 2013 it is also possible to filter the list of rows the inserts statement are based on  this is something not possible in SSMS as for as I know   Perform the following steps    Open the  SQL Server Object Explorer  window  menu   View SQL Server Object Explorer  Open   expand the database and its tables Right click on the table and choose  View data  from context menu This will display the data in the main area Optional step  Click on the filter icon  Sort and filter data set   the fourth icon from the left on the row above the result  and apply some filter to one or more columns Click on the  Script  or  Script to File  icons  the icons on the right of the top row  they look like little sheets of paper    This will create the  conditional  insert statements for the selected table to the active window or file     The  Filter  and  Script  buttons Visual Studio 2013

User · Answer

Not sure  if I understand your question correctly   If you have data in MS-Access  which you want to move it to SQL Server - you could use DTS  And  I guess you could use SQL profiler to see all the INSERT statements going by  I suppose

User · Answer

If you need a programmatic access  then you can use an open source stored procedure  GenerateInsert   INSERT statement s  generator  Just as a simple and quick example  to generate INSERT statements for a table AdventureWorks Person AddressType execute following statements   USE  AdventureWorks   GO EXECUTE dbo GenerateInsert  ObjectName   N Person AddressType     This will generate the following script   SET NOCOUNT ON SET IDENTITY INSERT Person AddressType ON INSERT INTO Person AddressType   AddressTypeID   Name   rowguid   ModifiedDate   VALUES   1 N Billing   B84F78B1-4EFE-4A0E-8CB7-70E9F112F886  CONVERT datetime  2002-06-01 00 00 00 000  121     2 N Home   41BC2FF6-F0FC-475F-8EB9-CEC0805AA0F2  CONVERT datetime  2002-06-01 00 00 00 000  121     3 N Main Office   8EEEC28C-07A2-4FB9-AD0A-42D4A0BBC575  CONVERT datetime  2002-06-01 00 00 00 000  121     4 N Primary   24CB3088-4345-47C4-86C5-17B535133D1E  CONVERT datetime  2002-06-01 00 00 00 000  121     5 N Shipping   B29DA3F8-19A3-47DA-9DAA-15C84F4A83A5  CONVERT datetime  2002-06-01 00 00 00 000  121     6 N Archive   A67F238A-5BA2-444B-966C-0467ED9C427F  CONVERT datetime  2002-06-01 00 00 00 000  121   SET IDENTITY INSERT Person AddressType OFF

User · Answer

You can use SSMS Tools Pack  available for SQL Server 2005 and 2008   It comes with a feature for generating insert statements   http   www ssmstoolspack com

User · Answer

I use sqlite to do this  I find it very  very useful for creating scratch test databases   sqlite3 foo sqlite  dump    gt  foo as a bunch of inserts sql

User · Answer

GenerateData is an amazing tool for this  It s also very easy to make tweaks to it because the source code is available to you  A few nice features    Name generator for peoples names and places Ability to save Generation profile  after it is downloaded and set up locally  Ability to customize and manipulate the generation through scripts Many different outputs  CSV  Javascript  JSON  etc   for the data  in case you need to test the set in different environments and want to skip the database access  Free  But consider donating if you find the software useful

User · Answer

I have also researched lot on this  but I could not get the concrete solution for this  Currently the approach I follow is copy the contents in excel from SQL Server Managment studio and then import the data into Oracle-TOAD and then generate the insert statements

User · Answer

As mentioned by  Mike Ritacco but updated for SSMS 2008 R2   Right click on the database name Choose Tasks   Generate scripts Depending on your settings the intro page may show or not Choose  Select specific database objects    Expand the tree view and check the relevant tables Click Next Click Advanced Under General section  choose the appropriate option for  Types of data to script  Complete the wizard   You will then get all of the INSERT statements for the data straight out of SSMS   EDIT 2016-10-25 SQL Server 2016 SSMS 13 0 15900 1   Right click on the database name Choose Tasks   Generate scripts Depending on your settings the intro page may show or not Choose  Select specific database objects    Expand the tree view and check the relevant tables Click Next Click Advanced Under General section  choose the appropriate option for  Types of data to  script  Click OK Pick whether you want the output to go to a new query  the clipboard or a  file Click Next twice Your script is prepared in accordance with the settings you picked above Click Finish

User · Answer

We use this stored procedure - it allows you to target specific tables  and use where clauses   You can find the text here   For example  it lets you do this          EXEC sp generate inserts  titles      Source code copied from link   SET NOCOUNT ON GO  PRINT  Using Master database  USE master GO  PRINT  Checking for the existence of this procedure  IF  SELECT OBJECT ID  sp generate inserts   P    IS NOT NULL --means  the procedure already exists     BEGIN         PRINT  Procedure already exists  So  dropping it          DROP PROC sp generate inserts     END GO  --Turn system object marking on EXEC master dbo sp MS upd sysobj category 1 GO  CREATE PROC sp generate inserts        table name varchar 776         -- The table view for which the INSERT statements will be generated using the existing data      target table varchar 776    NULL   -- Use this parameter to specify a different table name into which the data will be inserted      include column list bit   1        -- Use this parameter to include ommit column list in the generated INSERT statement      from varchar 800    NULL       -- Use this parameter to filter the rows based on a filter condition  using WHERE       include timestamp bit   0          -- Specify 1 for this parameter  if you want to include the TIMESTAMP ROWVERSION column s data in the INSERT statement      debug mode bit   0             -- If  debug mode is set to 1  the SQL statements constructed by this procedure will be printed for later examination      owner varchar 64    NULL       -- Use this parameter if you are not the owner of the table      ommit images bit   0           -- Use this parameter to generate INSERT statements by omitting the  image  columns      ommit identity bit   0         -- Use this parameter to ommit the identity columns      top int   NULL             -- Use this parameter to generate INSERT statements only for the TOP n rows      cols to include varchar 8000    NULL   -- List of columns to be included in the INSERT statement      cols to exclude varchar 8000    NULL   -- List of columns to be excluded from the INSERT statement      disable constraints bit   0        -- When 1  disables foreign key constraints and enables them after the INSERT statements      ommit computed cols bit   0        -- When 1  computed columns will not be included in the INSERT statement    AS BEGIN                                                                                                               Procedure   sp generate inserts   Build 22            Copyright    2002 Narayana Vyas Kondreddi  All rights reserved    Purpose     To generate INSERT statements from existing data           These INSERTS can be executed to regenerate the data at some other location          This procedure is also useful to create a database setup  where in you can          script your data along with your table definitions   Written by  Narayana Vyas Kondreddi             http   vyaskn tripod com             http   vyaskn tripod com code generate inserts txt  Acknowledgements          Divya Kalra -- For beta testing         Mark Charsley   -- For reporting a problem with scripting uniqueidentifier columns with NULL values         Artur Zeygman   -- For helping me simplify a bit of code for handling non-dbo owned tables         Joris Laperre   -- For reporting a regression bug in handling text ntext columns  Tested on   SQL Server 7 0 and SQL Server 2000  Date created    January 17th 2001 21 52 GMT  Date modified   May 1st 2002 19 50 GMT  Email       vyaskn hotmail com  NOTE        This procedure may not work with tables with too many columns          Results can be unpredictable with huge text columns or SQL Server 2000 s sql variant data types         Whenever possible  Use  include column list parameter to ommit column list in the INSERT statement  for better results         IMPORTANT  This procedure is not tested with internation data  Extended characters or Unicode   If needed         you might want to convert the datatypes of character variables in this procedure to their respective unicode counterparts         like nchar and nvarchar   Example 1   To generate INSERT statements for table  titles            EXEC sp generate inserts  titles   Example 2   To ommit the column list in the INSERT statement   Column list is included by default          IMPORTANT  If you have too many columns  you are advised to ommit column list  as shown below          to avoid erroneous results          EXEC sp generate inserts  titles    include column list   0  Example 3   To generate INSERT statements for  titlesCopy  table from  titles  table           EXEC sp generate inserts  titles    titlesCopy   Example 4   To generate INSERT statements for  titles  table for only those titles          which contain the word  Computer  in them          NOTE  Do not complicate the FROM or WHERE clause here  It s assumed that you are good with T-SQL if you are using this parameter          EXEC sp generate inserts  titles    from    from titles where title like   Computer     Example 5   To specify that you want to include TIMESTAMP column s data as well in the INSERT statement           By default TIMESTAMP column s data is not scripted           EXEC sp generate inserts  titles    include timestamp   1  Example 6   To print the debug information           EXEC sp generate inserts  titles    debug mode   1  Example 7   If you are not the owner of the table  use  owner parameter to specify the owner name         To use this option  you must have SELECT permissions on that table          EXEC sp generate inserts Nickstable   owner    Nick   Example 8   To generate INSERT statements for the rest of the columns excluding images         When using this otion  DO NOT set  include column list parameter to 0           EXEC sp generate inserts imgtable   ommit images   1  Example 9   To generate INSERT statements excluding  ommiting  IDENTITY columns           By default IDENTITY columns are included in the INSERT statement           EXEC sp generate inserts mytable   ommit identity   1  Example 10      To generate INSERT statements for the TOP 10 rows in the table           EXEC sp generate inserts mytable   top   10  Example 11      To generate INSERT statements with only those columns you want           EXEC sp generate inserts titles   cols to include     title   title id   au id    Example 12      To generate INSERT statements by omitting certain columns           EXEC sp generate inserts titles   cols to exclude     title   title id   au id    Example 13  To avoid checking the foreign key constraints while loading data with INSERT statements           EXEC sp generate inserts titles   disable constraints   1  Example 14      To exclude computed columns from the INSERT statement          EXEC sp generate inserts MyTable   ommit computed cols   1                                                                                                               SET NOCOUNT ON  --Making sure user only uses either  cols to include or  cols to exclude IF    cols to include IS NOT NULL  AND   cols to exclude IS NOT NULL       BEGIN         RAISERROR  Use either  cols to include or  cols to exclude  Do not use both the parameters at once  16 1          RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  Both  cols to include and  cols to exclude parameters are specified     END  --Making sure the  cols to include and  cols to exclude parameters are receiving values in proper format IF    cols to include IS NOT NULL  AND  PATINDEX          cols to include    0       BEGIN         RAISERROR  Invalid use of  cols to include property  16 1          PRINT  Specify column names surrounded by single quotes and separated by commas          PRINT  Eg  EXEC sp generate inserts titles   cols to include      title id     title             RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  Invalid use of  cols to include property     END  IF    cols to exclude IS NOT NULL  AND  PATINDEX          cols to exclude    0       BEGIN         RAISERROR  Invalid use of  cols to exclude property  16 1          PRINT  Specify column names surrounded by single quotes and separated by commas          PRINT  Eg  EXEC sp generate inserts titles   cols to exclude      title id     title             RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  Invalid use of  cols to exclude property     END   --Checking to see if the database name is specified along wih the table name --Your database context should be local to the table for which you want to generate INSERT statements --specifying the database name is not allowed IF  PARSENAME  table name 3   IS NOT NULL     BEGIN         RAISERROR  Do not specify the database name  Be in the required database and just specify the table name   16 1          RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  Database name is specified along with the table name  which is not allowed     END  --Checking for the existence of  user table  or  view  --This procedure is not written to work on system tables --To script the data in system tables  just create a view on the system tables and script the view instead  IF  owner IS NULL     BEGIN         IF   OBJECT ID  table name  U   IS NULL  AND  OBJECT ID  table name  V   IS NULL                BEGIN                 RAISERROR  User table or view not found   16 1                  PRINT  You may see this error  if you are not the owner of this table or view  In that case use  owner parameter to specify the owner name                   PRINT  Make sure you have SELECT permission on that table or view                   RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  There is no user table or view with this name             END     END ELSE     BEGIN         IF NOT EXISTS  SELECT 1 FROM INFORMATION SCHEMA TABLES WHERE TABLE NAME    table name AND  TABLE TYPE    BASE TABLE  OR TABLE TYPE    VIEW   AND TABLE SCHEMA    owner              BEGIN                 RAISERROR  User table or view not found   16 1                  PRINT  You may see this error  if you are not the owner of this table  In that case use  owner parameter to specify the owner name                   PRINT  Make sure you have SELECT permission on that table or view                   RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  There is no user table or view with this name                   END     END  --Variable declarations DECLARE      Column ID int                    Column List varchar 8000             Column Name varchar 128             Start Insert varchar 786             Data Type varchar 128             Actual Values varchar 8000     --This is the string that will be finally executed to generate INSERT statements          IDN varchar 128        --Will contain the IDENTITY column s name in the table  --Variable Initialization SET  IDN      SET  Column ID   0 SET  Column Name      SET  Column List      SET  Actual Values       IF  owner IS NULL      BEGIN         SET  Start Insert    INSERT INTO           RTRIM COALESCE  target table  table name              END ELSE     BEGIN         SET  Start Insert    INSERT           LTRIM RTRIM  owner                  RTRIM COALESCE  target table  table name                   END   --To get the first column s ID  SELECT   Column ID   MIN ORDINAL POSITION    FROM    INFORMATION SCHEMA COLUMNS  NOLOCK   WHERE   TABLE NAME    table name AND   owner IS NULL OR TABLE SCHEMA    owner     --Loop through all the columns of the table  to get the column names and their data types WHILE  Column ID IS NOT NULL     BEGIN         SELECT   Column Name   QUOTENAME COLUMN NAME             Data Type   DATA TYPE          FROM    INFORMATION SCHEMA COLUMNS  NOLOCK           WHERE   ORDINAL POSITION    Column ID AND          TABLE NAME    table name AND           owner IS NULL OR TABLE SCHEMA    owner             IF  cols to include IS NOT NULL --Selecting only user specified columns         BEGIN             IF CHARINDEX         SUBSTRING  Column Name 2 LEN  Column Name -2          cols to include    0              BEGIN                 GOTO SKIP LOOP             END         END          IF  cols to exclude IS NOT NULL --Selecting only user specified columns         BEGIN             IF CHARINDEX         SUBSTRING  Column Name 2 LEN  Column Name -2          cols to exclude   lt  gt  0              BEGIN                 GOTO SKIP LOOP             END         END          --Making sure to output SET IDENTITY INSERT ON OFF in case the table has an IDENTITY column         IF  SELECT COLUMNPROPERTY  OBJECT ID QUOTENAME COALESCE  owner USER NAME              table name  SUBSTRING  Column Name 2 LEN  Column Name  - 2   IsIdentity      1          BEGIN             IF  ommit identity   0 --Determing whether to include or exclude the IDENTITY column                 SET  IDN    Column Name             ELSE                 GOTO SKIP LOOP                   END          --Making sure whether to output computed columns or not         IF  ommit computed cols   1         BEGIN             IF  SELECT COLUMNPROPERTY  OBJECT ID QUOTENAME COALESCE  owner USER NAME              table name  SUBSTRING  Column Name 2 LEN  Column Name  - 2   IsComputed      1              BEGIN                 GOTO SKIP LOOP                               END         END          --Tables with columns of IMAGE data type are not supported for obvious reasons         IF  Data Type in   image                BEGIN                 IF   ommit images   0                      BEGIN                         RAISERROR  Tables with image columns are not supported   16 1                          PRINT  Use  ommit images   1 parameter to generate INSERTs for the rest of the columns                           PRINT  DO NOT ommit Column List in the INSERT statements  If you ommit column list using  include column list 0  the generated INSERTs will fail                           RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  There is a column with image data type                     END                 ELSE                     BEGIN                     GOTO SKIP LOOP                     END             END          --Determining the data type of the column and depending on the data type  the VALUES part of         --the INSERT statement is generated  Care is taken to handle columns with NULL values  Also         --making sure  not to lose any data from flot  real  money  smallmomey  datetime columns         SET  Actual Values    Actual Values            CASE              WHEN  Data Type IN   char   varchar   nchar   nvarchar                    THEN                       COALESCE            REPLACE RTRIM      Column Name                                        NULL                 WHEN  Data Type IN   datetime   smalldatetime                    THEN                       COALESCE            RTRIM CONVERT char      Column Name     109              NULL                 WHEN  Data Type IN   uniqueidentifier                    THEN                        COALESCE            REPLACE CONVERT char 255  RTRIM      Column Name                                         NULL                 WHEN  Data Type IN   text   ntext                    THEN                        COALESCE            REPLACE CONVERT char 8000       Column Name                                        NULL                                     WHEN  Data Type IN   binary   varbinary                    THEN                        COALESCE RTRIM CONVERT char      CONVERT int      Column Name          NULL                   WHEN  Data Type IN   timestamp   rowversion                    THEN                       CASE                          WHEN  include timestamp   0                              THEN                                     DEFAULT                                 ELSE                                   COALESCE RTRIM CONVERT char      CONVERT int      Column Name          NULL                           END             WHEN  Data Type IN   float   real   money   smallmoney                   THEN                      COALESCE LTRIM RTRIM      CONVERT char        Column Name      2           NULL                  ELSE                   COALESCE LTRIM RTRIM      CONVERT char        Column Name                NULL              END                                     --Generating the column list for the INSERT statement         SET  Column List    Column List     Column Name                   SKIP LOOP  --The label used in GOTO          SELECT   Column ID   MIN ORDINAL POSITION           FROM    INFORMATION SCHEMA COLUMNS  NOLOCK           WHERE   TABLE NAME    table name AND          ORDINAL POSITION  gt   Column ID AND           owner IS NULL OR TABLE SCHEMA    owner        --Loop ends here      END  --To get rid of the extra characters that got concatenated during the last run through the loop SET  Column List   LEFT  Column List len  Column List  - 1  SET  Actual Values   LEFT  Actual Values len  Actual Values  - 6   IF LTRIM  Column List            BEGIN         RAISERROR  No columns to select  There should at least be one column to generate the output  16 1          RETURN -1 --Failure  Reason  Looks like all the columns are ommitted using the  cols to exclude parameter     END  --Forming the final string that will be executed  to output the INSERT statements IF   include column list  lt  gt  0      BEGIN         SET  Actual Values                 SELECT                   CASE WHEN  top IS NULL OR  top  lt  0 THEN    ELSE   TOP     LTRIM STR  top         END                       RTRIM  Start Insert                                  RTRIM  Column List                                         VALUES           Actual Values                                  COALESCE  from   FROM     CASE WHEN  owner IS NULL THEN    ELSE       LTRIM RTRIM  owner          END         rtrim  table name            NOLOCK        END ELSE IF   include column list   0      BEGIN         SET  Actual Values                 SELECT                  CASE WHEN  top IS NULL OR  top  lt  0 THEN    ELSE   TOP     LTRIM STR  top         END                       RTRIM  Start Insert                         VALUES           Actual Values                                 COALESCE  from   FROM     CASE WHEN  owner IS NULL THEN    ELSE       LTRIM RTRIM  owner          END         rtrim  table name            NOLOCK        END   --Determining whether to ouput any debug information IF  debug mode  1     BEGIN         PRINT        START OF DEBUG INFORMATION               PRINT  Beginning of the INSERT statement           PRINT  Start Insert         PRINT            PRINT  The column list           PRINT  Column List         PRINT            PRINT  The SELECT statement executed to generate the INSERTs          PRINT  Actual Values         PRINT            PRINT       END OF DEBUG INFORMATION                PRINT        END  PRINT  --INSERTs generated by   sp generate inserts   stored procedure written by Vyas  PRINT  --Build number  22  PRINT  --Problems Suggestions  Contact Vyas   vyaskn hotmail com  PRINT  --http   vyaskn tripod com  PRINT    PRINT  SET NOCOUNT ON  PRINT      --Determining whether to print IDENTITY INSERT or not IF   IDN  lt  gt          BEGIN         PRINT  SET IDENTITY INSERT     QUOTENAME COALESCE  owner USER NAME             QUOTENAME  table name      ON          PRINT  GO          PRINT        END   IF  disable constraints   1 AND  OBJECT ID QUOTENAME COALESCE  owner USER NAME              table name   U   IS NOT NULL      BEGIN         IF  owner IS NULL             BEGIN                 SELECT   ALTER TABLE     QUOTENAME COALESCE  target table   table name       NOCHECK CONSTRAINT ALL  AS  --Code to disable constraints temporarily              END         ELSE             BEGIN                 SELECT   ALTER TABLE     QUOTENAME  owner          QUOTENAME COALESCE  target table   table name       NOCHECK CONSTRAINT ALL  AS  --Code to disable constraints temporarily              END          PRINT  GO      END  PRINT    PRINT  PRINT   Inserting values into           RTRIM COALESCE  target table  table name                  --All the hard work pays off here    You ll get your INSERT statements  when the next line executes  EXEC   Actual Values   PRINT  PRINT   Done    PRINT      IF  disable constraints   1 AND  OBJECT ID QUOTENAME COALESCE  owner USER NAME              table name   U   IS NOT NULL      BEGIN         IF  owner IS NULL             BEGIN                 SELECT   ALTER TABLE     QUOTENAME COALESCE  target table   table name       CHECK CONSTRAINT ALL   AS  --Code to enable the previously disabled constraints              END         ELSE             BEGIN                 SELECT   ALTER TABLE     QUOTENAME  owner          QUOTENAME COALESCE  target table   table name       CHECK CONSTRAINT ALL  AS  --Code to enable the previously disabled constraints              END          PRINT  GO      END  PRINT    IF   IDN  lt  gt          BEGIN         PRINT  SET IDENTITY INSERT     QUOTENAME COALESCE  owner USER NAME             QUOTENAME  table name      OFF          PRINT  GO      END  PRINT  SET NOCOUNT OFF    SET NOCOUNT OFF RETURN 0 --Success  We are done  END  GO  PRINT  Created the procedure  GO   --Turn system object marking off EXEC master dbo sp MS upd sysobj category 2 GO  PRINT  Granting EXECUTE permission on sp generate inserts to all users  GRANT EXEC ON sp generate inserts TO public  SET NOCOUNT OFF GO  PRINT  Done

User · Answer

why not just backup the data before your work with it  then restore when you want it to be refreshed   if you must generate inserts try  http   vyaskn tripod com code htm inserts

User · Answer

My contribution to the problem  a Powershell INSERT script generator that lets you script multiple tables without having to use the cumbersome SSMS GUI   Great for rapidly persisting  seed  data into source control    Save the below script as  filename ps1   Make your own modifications to the areas under  CUSTOMIZE ME   You can add the list of tables to script in any order  You can open the script in Powershell ISE and hit the Play button  or simply execute the script in the Powershell command prompt    By default  the INSERT script generated will be  SeedData sql  under the same folder as the script   You will need the SQL Server Management Objects assemblies installed  which should be there if you have SSMS installed   Add-Type -AssemblyName   Microsoft SqlServer Smo  Version 12 0 0 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken 89845dcd8080cc91   Add-Type -AssemblyName   Microsoft SqlServer ConnectionInfo  Version 12 0 0 0  Culture neutral  PublicKeyToken 89845dcd8080cc91       CUSTOMIZE ME  outputFile      SeedData sql   connectionString    Data Source   Initial Catalog mydb Integrated Security True       sqlConnection   new-object System Data SqlClient SqlConnection  connectionString   conn   new-object Microsoft SqlServer Management Common ServerConnection  sqlConnection   srv   new-object Microsoft SqlServer Management Smo Server  conn   db    srv Databases  srv ConnectionContext DatabaseName   scr   New-Object Microsoft SqlServer Management Smo Scripter  srv  scr Options FileName    outputFile  scr Options AppendToFile    false  scr Options ScriptSchema    false  scr Options ScriptData    true  scr Options NoCommandTerminator    true   tables   New-Object Microsoft SqlServer Management Smo UrnCollection     CUSTOMIZE ME  tables Add  db Tables  Category   Urn   tables Add  db Tables  Product   Urn   tables Add  db Tables  Vendor   Urn      void  scr EnumScript  tables    sqlConnection Close

User · Answer

I m using SSMS 2008 version 10 0 5500 0   In this version as part of the Generate Scripts wizard  instead of an Advanced button  there is the screen below    In this case  I wanted just the data inserted and no create statements  so I had to change the two circled properties

User · Answer

Jane Dallaway s stored procedure  http   docs google com leaf id 0B AkC4ZdTI9tNWVmZWU3NzAtMWY1My00NjgwLWI3ZjQtMTY1NDMxYzBhYzgx amp hl en GB   Documentation is a series of blog posts  https   www google com search q spu generateinsert amp as sitesearch http 3A 2F 2Fjane dallaway com

User · Answer

If you d rather use Google Sheets  use SeekWell to Send the table to a Sheet  then insert rows on a schedule  as they re added to the Sheet     See here for the step by step process   or watch a video demo of the feature here

User · Answer

Perhaps you can try the SQL Server Publishing Wizard http   www microsoft com downloads details aspx FamilyId 56E5B1C5-BF17-42E0-A410-371A838E570A amp displaylang en  It has a wizard that helps you script insert statements

User · Answer

The first link to sp generate inserts is pretty cool  here is a really simple version   DECLARE  Fields VARCHAR max   SET  Fields     QueueName    iSort   -- your fields  keep    DECLARE  Table  VARCHAR max   SET  Table     Queues                -- your table  DECLARE  SQL    VARCHAR max  SET  SQL    DECLARE  S VARCHAR MAX  SELECT  S   ISNULL  S      UNION       INSERT INTO      Table          Fields           CHAR 13    CHAR 10        SELECT          REPLACE REPLACE REPLACE  Fields                                         CAST          AS VARCHAR max                   FROM      Table     PRINT  S   EXEC   SQL    On my system  I get this result   INSERT INTO Queues  QueueName    iSort   SELECT  WD  Auto Capture    10  UNION  SELECT  Car Lar    11  UNION  SELECT  Scan Line    21  UNION  SELECT  OCR    22  UNION  SELECT  Dynamic Template    23  UNION  SELECT  Fix MICR    41  UNION  SELECT  Fix MICR  Supervisor     42  UNION  SELECT  Foreign MICR    43  UNION

User · Answer

Do you have data in a production database yet   If so  you could setup a period refresh of the data via DTS   We do ours weekly on the weekends and it is very nice to have clean  real data every week for our testing   If you don t have production yet  then you should create a database that is they want you want it  fresh    Then  duplicate that database and use that newly created database as your test environment   When you want the clean version  simply duplicate your clean one again and Bob s your uncle

[sql-server] What is the best way to auto-generate INSERT statements for a SQL Server table?

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