SQL INSERT INTO

The SQL INSERT INTO syntax has 2 main forms and the result of either of them is adding a new row into the database table.

The first syntax form of the INSERT INTO SQL clause doesn't specify the column names where the data will be inserted, but just their values:


INSERT INTO Table1
VALUES (value1, value2, value3…)

The second form of the SQL INSERT INTO command, specifies both the columns and the values to be inserted in them:


INSERT INTO Table1 (Column1, Column2, Column3…)
VALUES (Value1, Value2, Value3…)

As you might already have guessed, the number of the columns in the second INSERT INTO syntax form must match the number of values into the SQL statement, otherwise you will get an error.

If we want to insert a new row into our Customers table, we are going to use one of the following 2 SQL statements:


INSERT INTO Customers
VALUES ('Peter', 'Hunt', 'peter.hunt@tgmail.net', '1/1/1974', '626 888-8888')


INSERT INTO Customers (FirstName, LastName, Email, DOB, Phone)
VALUES ('Peter', 'Hunt', 'peter.hunt@tgmail.net', '1/1/1974', '626 888-8888')

The result of the execution of either of the 2 INSERT INTO SQL statements will be a new row added to our Customers database table:

FirstName LastName Email DOB Phone
John Smith John.Smith@yahoo.com 2/4/1968 626 222-2222
Steven Goldfish goldfish@fishhere.net 4/4/1974 323 455-4545
Paula Brown pb@herowndomain.org 5/24/1978 416 323-3232
James Smith jim@supergig.co.uk 20/10/1980 416 323-8888
Peter Hunt peter.hunt@tgmail.net 1/1/1974 626 888-8888

If you want to enter data for just a few of the table columns, you’ll have to use the second syntax form of the SQL INSERT INTO clause, because the first form will produce an error if you haven’t supplied values for all columns.

To insert only the FirstName and LastName columns, execute the following SQL statement:


INSERT INTO Customers (FirstName, LastName)
VALUES ('Peter', 'Hunt')