UPDATE statement

An UPDATE statement is used to update data in a table. In the UPDATE statement, specify the database table to be updated, which columns should be updated, and provide the new data. The new data can be specified with values or with the results from a query.

Your update can be conditional. Using one or more conditions in a WHERE clause for the UPDATE statement, you can specify which rows in the database table should be updated. If you do not have a WHERE clause all rows of the target table are updated.

The SET clause specifies which columns are to be updated and calculates new values for them. The table to be updated is specified prior to the SET clause.

See your database vendor documentation for information on the syntax of UPDATE statements. There may be variations in syntax depending upon the database vendor that you are using.

Note: For Oracle, UPDATE statements must assign values to columns individually without the use of bracketed groups. You should add columns individually. To add a value using a subquery, select the Build Expression option in the Value table cell (for the WHERE clause) to create a query expression for the column.

 

Parent topic

Creating an UPDATE statement