asked on

update help

I have a table:
tblA:
id int PK
SSN varchar(15)
FirstName varchar(30)
LastName varchar(30)

Since the id is an auto increment number, i have so-called 'duplicate' records in the table.. However, the rows are not the same. For example i could have:
1 111-22-3333 Jason Turner
2 111-22-3333 <no name>

I want to update all the records where the ssn are the same and the other columns do not match..

thanks in advance

Guy Hengel [angelIII / a3]

>I want to update all the records where the ssn are the same
which of the records do you want to update, what is the rule?
which of the columns do you want to update, taking what input?

dqmq

I assume you want to make the records the same, except for the ID. That begs the question, which values do you want to keep? Also, my advice would be to get to the root of the problem and eliminate the duplicates and the need to keep them.

catwalk

ASKER

I want only want to keep ssn and only update columns that are null.

so in the example above:
1 111-22-3333 Jason Turner
2 111-22-3333 <no name>

I would update firstname and lastname. Can't update ID (as this is PK) and do not want to update ssn.

i have found cause of issue and it has been resolved - but now must clean this up

Guy Hengel [angelIII / a3]

we understood that, but from which row to which row do you want to update?

dqmq

And what to do if firstname is null, but lastname is not.

catwalk

ASKER

i want to update the row with less data. If both are null - then i will leave the column as null.

There will never be the case where there is conflicting information. Either one row has it or it doesn't.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Guy Hengel [angelIII / a3]

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