Solutions for INSERT OR UPDATE on SQL Server

Question

Assume a table structure of MyTable(KEY, datafield1, datafield2...).

Often I want to either update an existing record, or insert a new record if it does

Answer 1

I had tried below solution and it works for me, when concurrent request for insert statement occurs.

begin tran
if exists (select * from table with (updlock,serializable) where key = @key)
begin
   update table set ...
   where key = @key
end
else
begin
   insert table (key, ...)
   values (@key, ...)
end
commit tran

Answer 2

That depends on the usage pattern. One has to look at the usage big picture without getting lost in the details. For example, if the usage pattern is 99% updates after the record has been created, then the 'UPSERT' is the best solution.

After the first insert (hit), it will be all single statement updates, no ifs or buts. The 'where' condition on the insert is necessary otherwise it will insert duplicates, and you don't want to deal with locking.

UPDATE <tableName> SET <field>=@field WHERE key=@key;

IF @@ROWCOUNT = 0
BEGIN
   INSERT INTO <tableName> (field)
   SELECT @field
   WHERE NOT EXISTS (select * from tableName where key = @key);
END

Answer 3

Do an UPSERT:

UPDATE MyTable SET FieldA=@FieldA WHERE Key=@Key

IF @@ROWCOUNT = 0
   INSERT INTO MyTable (FieldA) VALUES (@FieldA)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upsert

Answer 4

Assuming that you want to insert/update single row, most optimal approach is to use SQL Server's REPEATABLE READ transaction isolation level:

SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL REPEATABLE READ;
BEGIN TRANSACTION

    IF (EXISTS (SELECT * FROM myTable WHERE key=@key)
        UPDATE myTable SET ...
        WHERE key=@key
    ELSE
        INSERT INTO myTable (key, ...)
        VALUES (@key, ...)

COMMIT TRANSACTION

This isolation level will prevent/block subsequent repeatable read transactions from accessing same row (WHERE key=@key) while currently running transaction is open. On the other hand, operations on another row won't be blocked (WHERE key=@key2).

Answer 5

MS SQL Server 2008 introduces the MERGE statement, which I believe is part of the SQL:2003 standard. As many have shown it is not a big deal to handle one row cases, but when dealing with large datasets, one needs a cursor, with all the performance problems that come along. The MERGE statement will be much welcomed addition when dealing with large datasets.

Answer 6

If you use ADO.NET, the DataAdapter handles this.

If you want to handle it yourself, this is the way:

Make sure there is a primary key constraint on your key column.

Then you:

1. Do the update
2. If the update fails because a record with the key already exists, do the insert. If the update does not fail, you are finished.

You can also do it the other way round, i.e. do the insert first, and do the update if the insert fails. Normally the first way is better, because updates are done more often than inserts.