SQL Server 2012 Random string from a list

Question

say I have 3 values, Bill, Steve, Jack. and I want to randomly update a table with those values, eg

Update contacts set firstname = (\'Bill\',\'Steve\',\'Jack\') whe

Answer 1

Here's some love using choose

with cte as (
   select *, (ABS(CHECKSUM(NewId())) % 3) + 1 as n
   from contacts
   where city = 'NY'
)
update cte
set firstname = choose(n, 'Bill','Steve','Jack')