How to UPDATE all columns of a record without having to list every column

Question

I\'m trying to figure out a way to update a record without having to list every column name that needs to be updated.

For instance, it would be nice if I could use so

Answer 1

It is possible. Like npe said it's not a standard practice. But if you really have to:

1. First a scalar function

CREATE FUNCTION [dte].[getCleanUpdateQuery] (@pTableName varchar(40), @pQueryFirstPart VARCHAR(200) = '', @pQueryLastPart VARCHAR(200) = '', @pIncludeCurVal BIT = 1)
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000) AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @pQuery VARCHAR(8000);
WITH cte_Temp
AS
(
    SELECT
    C.name
    FROM SYS.COLUMNS AS C
        INNER JOIN SYS.TABLES AS T ON T.object_id = C.object_id
    WHERE T.name = @pTableName
)
    SELECT @pQuery = (
    CASE @pIncludeCurVal
    WHEN 0 THEN
    (
    STUFF(
        (SELECT ', ' + name + ' = ' + @pQueryFirstPart + @pQueryLastPart FROM cte_Temp FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 2, ''
        )
    )
    ELSE
    (
    STUFF(
        (SELECT ', ' + name + ' = ' + @pQueryFirstPart + name +  @pQueryLastPart FROM cte_Temp FOR XML PATH('')), 1, 2, ''
        )
    ) END)

    RETURN 'UPDATE ' + @pTableName + ' SET ' + @pQuery
END

2. Use it like this

DECLARE @pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery(, , , <1 if current value is used. 0 if updating everything to a static value>);
EXEC (@pQuery)

Example 1: make all employees columns 'Unknown' (you need to make sure column type matches the intended value:

DECLARE @pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery('employee', '', 'Unknown', 0);
EXEC (@pQuery)

Example 2: Remove an undesired text qualifier (e.g. #)

DECLARE @pQuery VARCHAR(8000) = dte.getCleanUpdateQuery('employee', 'REPLACE(', ', ''#'', '''')', 1);
EXEC (@pQuery)

This query can be improved. This is just the one I saved and sometime I use. You get the idea.