We can use the SQL INSERT statement to insert a row into a table. We can also use it to insert more than one row.
Below are seven ways to insert multiple rows into a table in SQL. Most of these examples should work in the major RDBMSs, with the possible exception of Oracle. But no worries, I’ve included an example just for Oracle.
If we need to add a virtual column to an existing table in Oracle Database, we can do so with the usual SQL ALTER TABLE statement.
The following examples use SQL to delete duplicate rows that have a primary key or unique identifier column.
Specifically, the examples delete all duplicates except one. So for example, in the case of three identical rows, it deletes two of them and keeps one.
If you ever need to use SQL to return just the numeric values in a character column, the method you use will largely depend on your DBMS. Most DBMSs support regular expressions (regex), but some don’t. And some include functions that can detect numeric values.
Here are examples of how to do it in the more popular DBMSs.
Oracle Database supports the creation of generated columns. A generated column is a column whose value is derived from an expression that computes values from other columns.
In Oracle Database, generated columns are usually referred to as virtual columns. Generated columns can also be referred to as computed columns in other RDBMSs (such as SQL Server). Either way, they do pretty much the same thing – they contain an expression that computes a value based on values in other columns in the same table.
Here’s an example of returning the first day of a given month in Oracle Database. We can return the first day of the current month, a previous or later month, or the first day of a month based on a specified date.