Update multiple rows in same query using PostgreSQL

Question

I'm looking to update multiple rows in PostgreSQL in one statement. Is there a way to do something like the following?

UPDATE table 
SET 
 column_a = 1 where column_b = '123',
 column_a = 2 where column_b = '345'

Answer 1

You can also use update ... from syntax and use a mapping table. If you want to update more than one column, it's much more generalizable:

update test as t set
    column_a = c.column_a
from (values
    ('123', 1),
    ('345', 2)  
) as c(column_b, column_a) 
where c.column_b = t.column_b;

You can add as many columns as you like:

update test as t set
    column_a = c.column_a,
    column_c = c.column_c
from (values
    ('123', 1, '---'),
    ('345', 2, '+++')  
) as c(column_b, column_a, column_c) 
where c.column_b = t.column_b;

sql fiddle demo

Answer 2

Based on the solution of @Roman, you can set multiple values:

update users as u set -- postgres FTW
  email = u2.email,
  first_name = u2.first_name,
  last_name = u2.last_name
from (values
  (1, '[email protected]', 'Hollis', 'Connell'),
  (2, '[email protected]', 'Robert', 'Duncan')
) as u2(id, email, first_name, last_name)
where u2.id = u.id;

Answer 3

Yes, you can:

UPDATE foobar SET column_a = CASE
   WHEN column_b = '123' THEN 1
   WHEN column_b = '345' THEN 2
END
WHERE column_b IN ('123','345')

And working proof: http://sqlfiddle.com/#!2/97c7ea/1

Answer 4

For updating multiple rows in a single query, you can try this

UPDATE table_name
SET 
column_1 = CASE WHEN any_column = value and any_column = value THEN column_1_value end,
column_2 = CASE WHEN any_column = value and any_column = value THEN column_2_value end,
column_3 = CASE WHEN any_column = value and any_column = value THEN column_3_value end,
.
.
.
column_n = CASE WHEN any_column = value and any_column = value THEN column_n_value end

if you don't need additional condition then remove and part of this query

Answer 5

Came across similar scenario and the CASE expression was useful to me.

UPDATE reports SET is_default = 
case 
 when report_id = 123 then true
 when report_id != 123 then false
end
WHERE account_id = 321;

Reports - is a table here, account_id is same for the report_ids mentioned above. The above query will set 1 record (the one which matches the condition) to true and all the non-matching ones to false.

Answer 6

Let's say you have an array of IDs and equivalent array of statuses - here is an example how to do this with a static SQL (a sql query that doesn't change due to different values) of the arrays :

drop table if exists results_dummy;
create table results_dummy (id int, status text, created_at timestamp default now(), updated_at timestamp default now());
-- populate table with dummy rows
insert into results_dummy
(id, status)
select unnest(array[1,2,3,4,5]::int[]) as id, unnest(array['a','b','c','d','e']::text[]) as status;

select * from results_dummy;

-- THE update of multiple rows with/by different values
update results_dummy as rd
set    status=new.status, updated_at=now()
from (select unnest(array[1,2,5]::int[]) as id,unnest(array['a`','b`','e`']::text[]) as status) as new
where rd.id=new.id;

select * from results_dummy;

-- in code using **IDs** as first bind variable and **statuses** as the second bind variable:
update results_dummy as rd
set    status=new.status, updated_at=now()
from (select unnest(:1::int[]) as id,unnest(:2::text[]) as status) as new
where rd.id=new.id;

Answer 7

In addition to other answers, comments and documentation, the datatype cast can be placed on usage. This allows an easier copypasting:

update test as t set
    column_a = c.column_a::number
from (values
    ('123', 1),
    ('345', 2)  
) as c(column_b, column_a) 
where t.column_b = c.column_b::text;

Answer 8

I don't think the accepted answer is entirely correct. It is order dependent. Here is an example that will not work correctly with an approach from the answer.

create table xxx (
    id varchar(64),
    is_enabled boolean
);

insert into xxx (id, is_enabled) values ('1',true);
insert into xxx (id, is_enabled) values ('2',true);
insert into xxx (id, is_enabled) values ('3',true);

UPDATE public.xxx AS pns
        SET is_enabled         = u.is_enabled
            FROM (
            VALUES
         (
            '3',
            false
         ,
            '1',
            true
         ,
            '2',
            false
         )
        ) AS u(id, is_enabled)
            WHERE u.id = pns.id;

select * from xxx;

So the question still stands, is there a way to do it in an order independent way?

---- after trying a few things this seems to be order independent

UPDATE public.xxx AS pns
        SET is_enabled         = u.is_enabled
            FROM (
            SELECT '3' as id, false as is_enabled UNION
            SELECT '1' as id, true as is_enabled UNION
            SELECT '2' as id, false as is_enabled
         ) as u
            WHERE u.id = pns.id;

Answer 9

@Roman thank you for the solution, for anyone using node, I made this utility method to pump out a query string to update n columns with n records.

Sadly it only handles n records with the same columns so the recordRows param is pretty strict.

const payload = {
  rows: [
    {
        id: 1,
        ext_id: 3
    },
    {
        id: 2,
        ext_id: 3
    },
    {
        id: 3,
        ext_id: 3
    } ,
        {
        id: 4,
        ext_id: 3
    } 
  ]
};

var result = updateMultiple('t', payload);

console.log(result);
/*
qstring returned is:

UPDATE t AS t SET id = c.id, ext_id = c.ext_id FROM (VALUES (1,3),(2,3),(3,3),(4,3)) AS c(id,ext_id) WHERE c.id = t.id
*/



function updateMultiple(table, recordRows){
  var valueSets = new Array();
  var cSet = new Set();
  var columns = new Array();
  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(recordRows.rows)) {
    var groupArray = new Array();
    for ( const [key2, value2] of Object.entries(recordRows.rows[key])){    
      if(!cSet.has(key2)){
        cSet.add(`${key2}`);
        columns.push(key2);
      }
      groupArray.push(`${value2}`); 
    }
    valueSets.push(`(${groupArray.toString()})`);
  }
  var valueSetsString = valueSets.join();  
  var setMappings = new String();
  for(var i = 0; i < columns.length; i++){
    var fieldSet = columns[i];
    
      setMappings += `${fieldSet} = c.${fieldSet}`;
      if(i < columns.length -1){
        setMappings += ', ';
      }
  }
  var qstring = `UPDATE ${table} AS t SET ${setMappings} FROM (VALUES ${valueSetsString}) AS c(${columns}) WHERE c.id = t.id`;
  return qstring;
}