Sams Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes

Understanding Data Insertion

SELECT is undoubtedly the most frequently used SQL statement (which is why the last 14 lessons were dedicated to it). But there are three other frequently used SQL statements that you should learn. The first one is INSERT. (You'll get to the other two in the next lesson.)

As its name suggests, INSERT is used to insert (add) rows to a database table. Insert can be used in several ways:

• Inserting a single complete row

• Inserting a single partial row

• Inserting the results of a query

You'll now look at each of these.

Tip

INSERT and System Security Use of the INSERT statement might require special security privileges in client-server DBMSs. Before you attempt to use INSERT, make sure you have adequate security privileges ...