SQL Server - How to insert a record and make sure it is unique

Question

I\'m trying to figure out the best way to insert a record into a single table but only if the item doesn\'t already exist. The KEY in this case is an NVARCHAR(400) field. Fo

Answer 1

declare @Error int

begin transaction
  INSERT INTO Words (Word) values(@word)
  set @Error = @@ERROR
  if @Error <> 0 --if error is raised
  begin
      goto LogError
  end
commit transaction
goto ProcEnd

LogError:
rollback transaction