I have two tables:

A [ID, column1, column2, column3]
B [ID, column1, column2, column3, column4]

A will always be subset of B (meaning all columns of A are also in B).

I want to update a record with a specific ID in B with their data from A for all columns of A. This ID exists both in A and B.

Is there an UPDATE syntax or any other way to do that without specifying the column names, just saying "set all columns of A"?

I'm using PostgreSQL, so a specific non-standard command is also accepted (however, not preferred).

1

7 Answers

You can use the non-standard FROM clause.

UPDATE b
SET column1 = a.column1, column2 = a.column2, column3 = a.column3
FROM a
WHERE a.id = b.id
AND b.id = 1

5

_{The question is old but I felt the best answer hadn't been given, yet.}

Is there an UPDATE syntax ... without specifying the column names?

General solution with dynamic SQL

Knowing only the primary key column of both tables

You don't need to know any column names except for some unique column(s) to join on (id in the example). Works reliably for any possible corner case I can think of.

This is specific to PostgreSQL. I am building dynamic code based on the the information_schema, in particular the table information_schema.columns, which is defined in the SQL standard and most major RDBMS (except Oracle) have it. But a DO statement with PL/pgSQL code executing dynamic SQL is totally non-standard PostgreSQL syntax.

DO
$do$
BEGIN
EXECUTE (
SELECT 'UPDATE b SET (' || string_agg( quote_ident(column_name), ',') || ') = (' || string_agg('a.' || quote_ident(column_name), ',') || ') FROM a WHERE b.id = 123 AND a.id = b.id'
FROM information_schema.columns
WHERE table_name = 'a' -- table name, case sensitive
AND table_schema = 'public' -- schema name, case sensitive
AND column_name <> 'id' -- all columns except id
);
END
$do$;

Assuming a matching column in b for every column in a, but not the other way round. b can have additional columns.

WHERE b.id = 123 is optional, to update a selected row.

db<>fiddle here
_{Old sqlfiddle}

Related answers with more explanation:

• Dynamic UPDATE fails due to unwanted parenthesis around string in plpgsql
• Update multiple columns that start with a specific string

Partial solutions with plain SQL

Knowing the list of shared columns

You know the list of column names that both tables share. With a syntax shortcut for updating multiple columns - shorter than what other answers suggested so far in any case.

UPDATE b
SET ( column1, column2, column3) = (a.column1, a.column2, a.column3)
FROM a
WHERE b.id = 123 -- optional, to update only selected row
AND a.id = b.id;

db<>fiddle here
_{Old sqlfiddle}

This syntax was introduced with Postgres 8.2 in 2006, long before the question was asked. Details in the manual.

Related:

• Bulk update of all columns

Knowing list of columns in B

If all columns of A are defined NOT NULL (but not necessarily all columns of B),
and you know the column names of B (but not necessarily those of A).

UPDATE b
SET (column1, column2, column3, column4) = (COALESCE(ab.column1, b.column1) , COALESCE(ab.column2, b.column2) , COALESCE(ab.column3, b.column3) , COALESCE(ab.column4, b.column4) )
FROM ( SELECT * FROM a NATURAL LEFT JOIN b -- append missing columns WHERE b.id IS NULL -- only if anything actually changes AND a.id = 123 -- optional, to update only selected row ) ab
WHERE b.id = ab.id;

The NATURAL LEFT JOIN joins a row from b where all columns of the same name hold same values. We don't need an update in this case (nothing changes) and can eliminate those rows early in the process (WHERE b.id IS NULL).
We still need to find a matching row, so b.id = ab.id in the outer query.

db<>fiddle here
_{Old sqlfiddle}

This is standard SQL except for the FROM clause.
It works no matter which of the columns are actually present in A, but the query cannot distinguish between actual NULL values and missing columns in A, so it is only reliable if all columns in A are defined NOT NULL.

There are multiple possible variations, depending on what you know about both tables.

1

I have been working with IBM DB2 database for more then decade and now trying to learn PostgreSQL.

It works on PostgreSQL 9.3.4, but does not work on DB2 10.5:

UPDATE B SET COLUMN1 = A.COLUMN1, COLUMN2 = A.COLUMN2, COLUMN3 = A.COLUMN3
FROM A
WHERE A.ID = B.ID

Note: Main problem is FROM cause that is not supported in DB2 and also not in ANSI SQL.

It works on DB2 10.5, but does NOT work on PostgreSQL 9.3.4:

UPDATE B SET (COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3) = (SELECT COLUMN1, COLUMN2, COLUMN3 FROM A WHERE ID = B.ID)

FINALLY! It works on both PostgreSQL 9.3.4 and DB2 10.5:

UPDATE B SET COLUMN1 = (SELECT COLUMN1 FROM A WHERE ID = B.ID), COLUMN2 = (SELECT COLUMN2 FROM A WHERE ID = B.ID), COLUMN3 = (SELECT COLUMN3 FROM A WHERE ID = B.ID)

1

This is a great help. The code

UPDATE tbl_b b
SET ( column1, column2, column3) = (a.column1, a.column2, a.column3)
FROM tbl_a a
WHERE b.id = 1
AND a.id = b.id;

works perfectly.

noted that you need a bracket "" in

From "tbl_a" a

to make it work.

0

Not necessarily what you asked, but maybe using postgres inheritance might help?

CREATE TABLE A ( ID int, column1 text, column2 text, column3 text
);
CREATE TABLE B ( column4 text
) INHERITS (A);

This avoids the need to update B.

But be sure to read all the details.

Otherwise, what you ask for is not considered a good practice - dynamic stuff such as views with SELECT * ... are discouraged (as such slight convenience might break more things than help things), and what you ask for would be equivalent for the UPDATE ... SET command.

2

you can build and execute dynamic sql to do this, but its really not ideal

2

Try Following

Update A a, B b, SET a.column1=b.column1 where b.id=1

EDITED:- Update more than one column

Update A a, B b, SET a.column1=b.column1, a.column2=b.column2 where b.id=1

3

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