Updating data in SQL Server database tables

You use the UPDATE statement to modify an existing table data.

To execute the UPDATE statement, a user must have at least an UPDATE permission assigned on the target table.

The following is the basic syntax for the UPDATE statement:

[WITH <common_table_expression> [, ...n]]
UPDATE
[TOP (expression) [PERCENT]]
table_name | view_name | rowset_function | common_table_expression
[WITH table_hint]
SET column_name = {expression | DEFAULT | NULL} [ ,...n ]
<outputclause>
FROM < table_name | view_name | common_table_expression>
WHERE <search_condition>

The following are the arguments of the UPDATE statement:

  • WITH: This keyword specifies the CTE that you can reference in your UPDATE statement
  • TOP: You specify this ...

Get SQL Server 2014 Development Essentials now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial