Insert multiple rows WITHOUT repeating the “INSERT INTO …” part of the statement?

Question

I know I\'ve done this before years ago, but I can\'t remember the syntax, and I can\'t find it anywhere due to pulling up tons of help docs and articles about \"bulk import

Answer 1

Your syntax almost works in SQL Server 2008 (but not in SQL Server 2005¹):

CREATE TABLE MyTable (id int, name char(10));

INSERT INTO MyTable (id, name) VALUES (1, 'Bob'), (2, 'Peter'), (3, 'Joe');

SELECT * FROM MyTable;

id |  name
---+---------
1  |  Bob       
2  |  Peter     
3  |  Joe       

---

¹ When the question was answered, it was not made evident that the question was referring to SQL Server 2005. I am leaving this answer here, since I believe it is still relevant.