urQL/docs/ref-ch04-data-manipulation.md

BULK INSERT

TBD

DELETE

DELETE [ FROM ] [ <ship-qualifer> ]<table>
[ WITH (<query>) AS <alias> [ ,...n ] ]
[ WHERE <predicate> ]

Discussion: Data in the namespace sys cannot be deleted.

INSERT

INSERT INTO [ <ship-qualifer> ]<table>
  [ ( <column> [ ,...n ] ) ]
  { VALUES (<scalar-expression> [ ,...n ] ) [ ,...n ]
    | <query> }

<scalar-expression> ::=
  { <constant>
    | <scalar-function>
    | <scalar-query>
    | [ unary-operator ] expression
    | expression <binary-operator> expression }

Discussion: The VALUES or <query> must provide data for all columns in the expected order. Tables in the namespace sys cannot be inserted into. Cord values are represented in single quotes 'this is a cord'. Escape single quotes with double backslash thusly 'this is a cor\\'d'.

MERGE

MERGE [ { INTO | FROM } ] [ <target-table> [ [ AS ] <alias> ] ]
[ PRODUCING NEW [ <ship-qualifer> ]<new-table> ]
[ WITH (<query>) AS <alias> [ ,...n ] ]
USING <source-table> [ [ AS ] <alias> ]
[ [ SCALAR ] [ ,...n ] ]
  ON <merge-predicate>
  [ WHEN MATCHED [ AND <target-predicate> ]
    THEN <merge-matched> ] [ ...n ]
  [ WHEN NOT MATCHED [ BY TARGET ] [ AND <target-predicate> ]
    THEN <merge-not-matched> ]
  [ WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE [ AND <source-predicate> ]
    THEN <merge-matched> ] [ ...n ]

<target-table> ::= <table-object>

<source-table> ::=
  <common-table-expression> 
  | <table-view>

<merge-predicate>  ::= <predicate>
<target-predicate> ::= <predicate>
<source-predicate> ::= <predicate>

<merge-matched> ::=
  { UPDATE [ SET ] { <column> = <scalar-expression> }  [ ,...n ]
    | DELETE
  }

<merge-not-matched> ::=
  INSERT [ ( <column> [ ,...n ] ) ]
    VALUES ( <scalar-expression> [ ,...n ] )

Discussion: Cross ship merges not allowed. The discussion of INSERT also applies when not matched by target. In the case of multiple WHEN MATCHED or WHEN NOT MATCHED and overlapping predicates, the cases are processed in order, so the first successful takes precedence. Tables in the namespace sys cannot be merged into.

Arguments

[ { INTO | FROM } ] [ <ship-qualifer> ] <target-table>

• If { INTO | FROM } is not specified default to INTO.
• IF <target-table> is a view or * (streamed <table-object>) then FROM is required.
• INTO must not accompany PRODUCING NEW argument.
• FROM must accompany PRODUCING NEW argument.
• <target-table> is the table, view, or CTE against which the data rows from <table-source> are matched based on <merge-predicate>.
• If INTO is specified then <target-table> is the target of any insert, update, or delete operations specified by the WHEN clauses.
• If FROM is specified then any insert, update, or delete operations specified by the WHEN clauses as well as matched but otherwise unaffected target table rows produce a new <table-object> as specified for the PRODUCING NEW clause.

[ AS ] <alias>

An alternative name to reference <target-table>.

[ WITH () AS [ ,...n ] ] Specifies the temporary named result set or view, also known as common table expression, that's defined within the scope of the MERGE statement. The result set derives from a simple query and is referenced by the MERGE statement.

USING <table-source>

Specifies the data source that's matched with the data rows in <target-table> joining on <merge-predicate>. can be a remote table or a derived table that accesses remote tables.

can be a derived table that uses the Transact-SQL table value constructor to construct a table by specifying multiple rows.

[ AS ] table-alias An alternative name to reference a table for the table-source.

ON Specifies the conditions on which joins with , determining the matching. Any valid not resulting in cartesian join.

WHEN MATCHED THEN Specifies that all rows of *target-table, which match the rows returned by ON , and satisfy any additional search condition, are either updated or deleted according to the clause.

The MERGE statement can have, at most, two WHEN MATCHED clauses. If two clauses are specified, the first clause must be accompanied by an AND clause. For any given row, the second WHEN MATCHED clause is only applied if the first isn't. If there are two WHEN MATCHED clauses, one must specify an UPDATE action and one must specify a DELETE action. When UPDATE is specified in the clause, and more than one row of matches a row in target-table based on , SQL Server returns an error. The MERGE statement can't update the same row more than once, or update and delete the same row.

WHEN NOT MATCHED [ BY TARGET ] THEN Specifies that a row is inserted into target-table for every row returned by ON that doesn't match a row in target-table, but satisfies an additional search condition, if present. The values to insert are specified by the clause. The MERGE statement can have only one WHEN NOT MATCHED [ BY TARGET ] clause.

WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE THEN Specifies that all rows of *target-table, which don't match the rows returned by ON , and that satisfy any additional search condition, are updated or deleted according to the clause.

The MERGE statement can have at most two WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE clauses. If two clauses are specified, then the first clause must be accompanied by an AND clause. For any given row, the second WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE clause is only applied if the first isn't. If there are two WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE clauses, then one must specify an UPDATE action and one must specify a DELETE action. Only columns from the target table can be referenced in .

When no rows are returned by , columns in the source table can't be accessed. If the update or delete action specified in the clause references columns in the source table, error 207 (Invalid column name) is returned. For example, the clause WHEN NOT MATCHED BY SOURCE THEN UPDATE SET TargetTable.Col1 = SourceTable.Col1 may cause the statement to fail because Col1 in the source table is inaccessible.

AND Any valid predicate on the matching source and target row or nonmatching source or target.

Returns a row for every row in target-table that's updated, inserted, or deleted, in no particular order. $action can be specified in the output clause. $action is a column of type nvarchar(10) that returns one of three values for each row: 'INSERT', 'UPDATE', or 'DELETE', according to the action done on that row. The OUTPUT clause is the recommended way to query or count rows affected by a MERGE. For more information about the arguments and behavior of this clause, see OUTPUT Clause (Transact-SQL). Specifies the update or delete action that's applied to all rows of target-table that don't match the rows returned by ON , and which satisfy any additional search condition.

UPDATE SET Specifies the list of column or variable names to update in the target table and the values with which to update them.

For more information about the arguments of this clause, see UPDATE. Setting a variable to the same value as a column isn't supported.

DELETE Specifies that the rows matching rows in target-table are deleted.

Specifies the values to insert into the target table.

(column-list) A list of one or more columns of the target table in which to insert data. Columns must be specified as a single-part name or else the MERGE statement will fail. column-list must be enclosed in parentheses and delimited by commas.

VALUES (values-list) A comma-separated list of constants, variables, or expressions that return values to insert into the target table. Expressions can't contain an EXECUTE statement.

DEFAULT VALUES Forces the inserted row to contain the default values defined for each column.

For more information about this clause, see INSERT (Transact-SQL).

Specifies the search conditions to specify or .

Remarks

At least one of the three MATCHED clauses must be specified, but they can be specified in any order. A variable can't be updated more than once in the same MATCHED clause.

Any insert, update, or delete action specified on the target table by the MERGE statement are limited by any constraints defined on it, including unique indices and any cascading referential integrity constraints. If IGNORE-DUP-KEY is ON for any unique indexes on the target table, MERGE ignores this setting.

Produced Metadata

@@ROWCOUNT returns the total number of rows [inserted=@ud updated=@ud deleted=@ud].

Exceptions

target table does not exist source-table does not exists new-table already exists shadowed matching case duplicate unique keys referential integrity violation

Syntax Rules

1. Let TN be the contained in TT and let T be the table identified by TN.
2. If is specified, then T shall be insertable-into or trigger insertable-into.
3. If is specified, then T shall be updatable or trigger updatable.
4. If is specified, then T shall be updatable or trigger deletable.
5. T shall not be an old transition table or a new transition table.
6. For each leaf generally underlying table of T whose descriptor includes a user-defined type name UDTN, the data type descriptor of the user-defined type UDT identified by UDTN shall indicate that UDT is instantiable.
7. If T is a view, then is effectively replaced by: ONLY ( TN )
8. Case: a) If is specified, then let CN be the contained in . CN is an exposed . b) Otherwise, let CN be the
contained in . CN is an exposed .
9. The scope of CN is the immediately contained in the , the immediately contained in a , the immediately contained in a , and the .
10. Let TR be the
immediately contained in . TR shall not directly contain a .
11. The or
that is exposed by TR shall not be equivalent to CN.
12. If an is omitted, then an that identifies all columns of T in the ascending sequence of their ordinal position within T is implicit.
13. Case: a) If some underlying column of a column referenced by a contained in is a system-generated self-referencing column or a derived self-referencing column, then shall be specified. b) If for some n, some underlying column of the column referenced by the contained in the n-th ordinal position in is an identity column, system-time period start column, or system-time period end column whose descriptor includes an indication that values are always generated, and the n-th simply contained in any simply contained in the is not a , then shall be specified. c) If for some n, some underlying column of the column referenced by the contained in the n-th ordinal position in is an identity column whose descriptor includes an indication that values are generated by default and is specified, then shall specify OVERRIDING USER VALUE. Data manipulation 961 IWD 9075-2:201?(E) 14.12 d) If for some n, some underlying column of the column referenced by the contained in the n-th ordinal position in is a system-time period start column or a systemtime period end column whose descriptor includes an indication that values are always generated and is specified, then shall specify OVERRIDING USER VALUE. e) Otherwise, shall not be specified.
14. The immediately contained in a , the immediately contained in a , and the immediately contained in a shall not generally contain a whose subject routine is an SQL-invoked routine that possibly modifies SQL-data.
15. Each column identified by an