Sybase 12.4.2 User Manual

Changing data using UPDATE

 

The Append_Load option applies to 

LOAD

, 

INSERT...SELECT

, and 

INSERT...VALUES

 statements.

For more information on versioning see Chapter 8, “Transactions and 
Versioning”.

You can use the 

UPDATE

 statement, followed by the name of the table or view, 

to change single rows, groups of rows, or all rows in a table. As in all data 
modification statements, you can change the data in only one table or view at 
a time.

The 

UPDATE

 statement specifies the row or rows you want changed and the 

new data. The new data can be a constant or an expression that you specify or 
data pulled from other tables.

If an 

UPDATE

 statement violates an integrity constraint, the update does not 

take place and an error message appears. For example, if one of the values 
being added is the wrong data type, or if it violates a constraint defined for one 
of the columns or data types involved, the update does not take place.

UPDATE syntax

See the Adaptive Server IQ Reference Manual for complete 

UPDATE

 syntax. A 

simplified version of the syntax is: 

table-name 

column_name = expression

WHERE 

search-condition

If the company Newton Ent. (in the customer table of the sample database) is 
taken over by Einstein, Inc., you can update the name of the company using a 
statement such as the following: 

UPDATE customer

SET company_name = ’Einstein, Inc.’

WHERE company_name = ’Newton Ent.’

You can use any condition in the WHERE clause. If you are not sure how the 
company name was entered, you could try updating any company called 
Newton, with a statement such as the following:

UPDATE customer

SET company_name = ’Einstein, Inc.’

WHERE company_name LIKE ’Newton%’