How to INSERT Multiple Records in SQL: Methods & Examples

Need of SQL Insert INTO Multiple Rows Query

SQL INSERT query inserts data into the columns of a particular table.

The normal SQL INSERT query inputs the data values in a single row. In case when we want to insert data in multiple rows at once, this query fails.

Thus, in order to save the execution time, we need to use the SQL INSERT query in such a manner that it injects data into multiple rows at once.

Having understood the need of SQL Insert query for multiple rows, let us get started with the implementation of the same.

Traditional SQL INSERT Query to Insert Multiple Records

Traditional SQL INSERT query injects input data into multiple rows. In this technique, we need to the insert query as many times we want to input data into the rows of the table.

The basic drawback of this query is the overhead of execution of every insert query for multiple rows injection.

Example:

create table Info(id integer, Cost integer, city varchar(200));
insert into Info(id, Cost,city) values(1, 100,"Pune");
insert into Info(id, Cost,city) values(2, 50, "Satara");
insert into Info(id, Cost,city) values(3, 65,"Pune");
insert into Info(id, Cost,city) values(4, 97,"Mumbai");
insert into Info(id, Cost,city) values(5, 12,"USA");
select * from Info;

Output:

1 100 Pune

2 50 Satara

3 65 Pune

4 97 Mumbai

5 12 USA

INSERT-SELECT-UNION Query to Insert Multiple Records

In the above section, we got to know that INSERT INTO query injects multiple records. But, if we observe the output of it, we get to know that the clause ‘INSERT INTO’ is repeated many times.

Thus, we can use INSERT-SELECT-UNION query to insert data into multiple rows of the table.

The SQL UNION query helps to select all the data that has been enclosed by the SELECT query through the INSERT statement.

create table Info(id integer, Cost integer);
INSERT INTO Info (id, Cost)  
SELECT 1, '123'  
UNION ALL   
SELECT 2, '234'  
UNION ALL  
SELECT 3, '456';  

select * from Info;

Output:

1 123

2 234

3 456

Row Construction to Insert Multiple Records

The SQL INSERT query is used in a manner wherein we make use of a single INSERT query to insert multiple records within a single point of execution.

Syntax:

INSERT INTO Table (columns)  
VALUES (val1, val2, valN); 

Example:

create table Info(id integer, Cost integer,city nvarchar(200));
INSERT INTO Info (id,Cost,city)  
VALUES (1,200, 'Pune'), (2, 150,'USA'), (3,345, 'France');  

select * from Info;

Output:

1 200 Pune

2 150 USA

3 345 France

Conclusion

By this we have come to the end of this topic. Herein we have covered three different techniques to INSERT data values across multiple records of a table.