SQLite “INSERT OR REPLACE INTO” vs. “UPDATE … WHERE”

Question

I\'ve never seen the syntax INSERT OR REPLACE INTO names (id, name) VALUES (1, \"John\") used in SQL before, and I was wondering why it\'s better than UPD

Answer 1

REPLACE INTO table(column_list) VALUES(value_list);

is a shorter form of

INSERT OR REPLACE INTO table(column_list) VALUES(value_list);

For REPLACE to execute correctly your table structure must have unique rows, whether a simple primary key or a unique index.

REPLACE deletes, then INSERTs the record and will cause an INSERT Trigger to execute if you have them setup. If you have a trigger on INSERT, you may encounter issues.

---

This is a work around.. not checked the speed..

INSERT OR IGNORE INTO table (column_list) VALUES(value_list);

followed by

UPDATE table SET field=value,field2=value WHERE uniqueid='uniquevalue'

This method allows a replace to occur without causing a trigger.