Update a table using JOIN in SQL Server? - sql-server

Question

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?

Answer 1

You don't quite have SQL Server's proprietary UPDATE FROM syntax down. Also not sure why you needed to join on the CommonField and also filter on it afterward. Try this:
UPDATE t1
SET t1.CalculatedColumn = t2.[Calculated Column]
FROM dbo.Table1 AS t1
INNER JOIN dbo.Table2 AS t2
ON t1.CommonField = t2.[Common Field]
WHERE t1.BatchNo = '110';
If you're doing something silly - like constantly trying to set the value of one column to the aggregate of another column (which violates the principle of avoiding storing redundant data), you can use a CTE (common table expression) - see here and here for more details:
;WITH t2 AS
(
SELECT [key], CalculatedColumn = SUM(some_column)
FROM dbo.table2
GROUP BY [key]
)
UPDATE t1
SET t1.CalculatedColumn = t2.CalculatedColumn
FROM dbo.table1 AS t1
INNER JOIN t2
ON t1.[key] = t2.[key];
The reason this is silly, is that you're going to have to re-run this entire update every single time any row in table2 changes. A SUM is something you can always calculate at runtime and, in doing so, never have to worry that the result is stale.

Answer 2

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'

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

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";

Answer 5

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 6

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.

Answer 7

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

Answer 8

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

Answer 9

I think, this is what you are looking for.
UPDATE
Table1
SET
Table1.columeName =T1.columeName * T2.columeName
FROM
Table1 T1
INNER JOIN Table2 T2
ON T1.columeName = T2.columeName;

Answer 10

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

Answer 11

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

Answer 12

Those who are using MYSQL
UPDATE table1 INNER JOIN table2 ON table2.id = table1.id SET table1.status = 0 WHERE table1.column = 20

Answer 13

Try:
UPDATE table1
SET CalculatedColumn = ( SELECT [Calculated Column]
FROM table2
WHERE table1.commonfield = [common field])
WHERE BatchNO = '110'