Multiple Updates in MySQL

Question

I know that you can insert multiple rows at once, is there a way to update multiple rows at once (as in, in one query) in MySQL?

Edit: For example I have the followi

Answer 1

Use a temporary table

// Reorder items
function update_items_tempdb(&$items)
{
    shuffle($items);
    $table_name = uniqid('tmp_test_');
    $sql = "CREATE TEMPORARY TABLE `$table_name` ("
        ."  `id` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT"
        .", `position` int(10) unsigned NOT NULL"
        .", PRIMARY KEY (`id`)"
        .") ENGINE = MEMORY";
    query($sql);
    $i = 0;
    $sql = '';
    foreach ($items as &$item)
    {
        $item->position = $i++;
        $sql .= ($sql ? ', ' : '')."({$item->id}, {$item->position})";
    }
    if ($sql)
    {
        query("INSERT INTO `$table_name` (id, position) VALUES $sql");
        $sql = "UPDATE `test`, `$table_name` SET `test`.position = `$table_name`.position"
            ." WHERE `$table_name`.id = `test`.id";
        query($sql);
    }
    query("DROP TABLE `$table_name`");
}