Five Handy Tips for MySQL's Powerful UPDATE Statement

Jul 27, 2010, 16:03 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Rob Gravelle)

"Rob Gravelle explores the MySQL UPDATE statement, which is used to modify existing records in a table. Among its many features, he looks at how to update multiple tables, avoiding mistakes, and how to limit how many rows are updated.

"In the MySQL INSERT Statement Variations article, we explored the use of MySQL INSERT...SELECT syntax and other ways to construct an effective INSERT statement. Today we will be shifting our focus to the UPDATE statement, which is used to modify existing records in a table. Among its many features, we'll be looking at how to update multiple tables, avoiding mistakes, and how to limit how many rows are updated.

"Basic Syntax

"Here is the basic syntax of the UPDATE statement that we learned in the "MySQL INSERT Statement Variations" article:

UPDATE table_name
SET column1=value, 
    column2=value2,
...
WHERE some_column=some_value

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