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+'\" t
+.\" Title: UPDATE
+.\" Author: The PostgreSQL Global Development Group
+.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
+.\" Date: 2023
+.\" Manual: PostgreSQL 15.4 Documentation
+.\" Source: PostgreSQL 15.4
+.\" Language: English
+.\"
+.TH "UPDATE" "7" "2023" "PostgreSQL 15.4" "PostgreSQL 15.4 Documentation"
+.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.\" * Define some portability stuff
+.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+.\" http://bugs.debian.org/507673
+.\" http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/groff/2009-02/msg00013.html
+.\" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+.ie \n(.g .ds Aq \(aq
+.el .ds Aq '
+.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.\" * set default formatting
+.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.\" disable hyphenation
+.nh
+.\" disable justification (adjust text to left margin only)
+.ad l
+.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.\" * MAIN CONTENT STARTS HERE *
+.\" -----------------------------------------------------------------
+.SH "NAME"
+UPDATE \- update rows of a table
+.SH "SYNOPSIS"
+.sp
+.nf
+[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] \fIwith_query\fR [, \&.\&.\&.] ]
+UPDATE [ ONLY ] \fItable_name\fR [ * ] [ [ AS ] \fIalias\fR ]
+ SET { \fIcolumn_name\fR = { \fIexpression\fR | DEFAULT } |
+ ( \fIcolumn_name\fR [, \&.\&.\&.] ) = [ ROW ] ( { \fIexpression\fR | DEFAULT } [, \&.\&.\&.] ) |
+ ( \fIcolumn_name\fR [, \&.\&.\&.] ) = ( \fIsub\-SELECT\fR )
+ } [, \&.\&.\&.]
+ [ FROM \fIfrom_item\fR [, \&.\&.\&.] ]
+ [ WHERE \fIcondition\fR | WHERE CURRENT OF \fIcursor_name\fR ]
+ [ RETURNING * | \fIoutput_expression\fR [ [ AS ] \fIoutput_name\fR ] [, \&.\&.\&.] ]
+.fi
+.SH "DESCRIPTION"
+.PP
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+changes the values of the specified columns in all rows that satisfy the condition\&. Only the columns to be modified need be mentioned in the
+SET
+clause; columns not explicitly modified retain their previous values\&.
+.PP
+There are two ways to modify a table using information contained in other tables in the database: using sub\-selects, or specifying additional tables in the
+FROM
+clause\&. Which technique is more appropriate depends on the specific circumstances\&.
+.PP
+The optional
+RETURNING
+clause causes
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+to compute and return value(s) based on each row actually updated\&. Any expression using the table\*(Aqs columns, and/or columns of other tables mentioned in
+FROM, can be computed\&. The new (post\-update) values of the table\*(Aqs columns are used\&. The syntax of the
+RETURNING
+list is identical to that of the output list of
+\fBSELECT\fR\&.
+.PP
+You must have the
+UPDATE
+privilege on the table, or at least on the column(s) that are listed to be updated\&. You must also have the
+SELECT
+privilege on any column whose values are read in the
+\fIexpressions\fR
+or
+\fIcondition\fR\&.
+.SH "PARAMETERS"
+.PP
+\fIwith_query\fR
+.RS 4
+The
+WITH
+clause allows you to specify one or more subqueries that can be referenced by name in the
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+query\&. See
+Section\ \&7.8
+and
+\fBSELECT\fR(7)
+for details\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fItable_name\fR
+.RS 4
+The name (optionally schema\-qualified) of the table to update\&. If
+ONLY
+is specified before the table name, matching rows are updated in the named table only\&. If
+ONLY
+is not specified, matching rows are also updated in any tables inheriting from the named table\&. Optionally,
+*
+can be specified after the table name to explicitly indicate that descendant tables are included\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIalias\fR
+.RS 4
+A substitute name for the target table\&. When an alias is provided, it completely hides the actual name of the table\&. For example, given
+UPDATE foo AS f, the remainder of the
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+statement must refer to this table as
+f
+not
+foo\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIcolumn_name\fR
+.RS 4
+The name of a column in the table named by
+\fItable_name\fR\&. The column name can be qualified with a subfield name or array subscript, if needed\&. Do not include the table\*(Aqs name in the specification of a target column \(em for example,
+UPDATE table_name SET table_name\&.col = 1
+is invalid\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIexpression\fR
+.RS 4
+An expression to assign to the column\&. The expression can use the old values of this and other columns in the table\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+DEFAULT
+.RS 4
+Set the column to its default value (which will be NULL if no specific default expression has been assigned to it)\&. An identity column will be set to a new value generated by the associated sequence\&. For a generated column, specifying this is permitted but merely specifies the normal behavior of computing the column from its generation expression\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIsub\-SELECT\fR
+.RS 4
+A
+SELECT
+sub\-query that produces as many output columns as are listed in the parenthesized column list preceding it\&. The sub\-query must yield no more than one row when executed\&. If it yields one row, its column values are assigned to the target columns; if it yields no rows, NULL values are assigned to the target columns\&. The sub\-query can refer to old values of the current row of the table being updated\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIfrom_item\fR
+.RS 4
+A table expression allowing columns from other tables to appear in the
+WHERE
+condition and update expressions\&. This uses the same syntax as the
+FROM
+clause of a
+\fBSELECT\fR
+statement; for example, an alias for the table name can be specified\&. Do not repeat the target table as a
+\fIfrom_item\fR
+unless you intend a self\-join (in which case it must appear with an alias in the
+\fIfrom_item\fR)\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIcondition\fR
+.RS 4
+An expression that returns a value of type
+boolean\&. Only rows for which this expression returns
+true
+will be updated\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIcursor_name\fR
+.RS 4
+The name of the cursor to use in a
+WHERE CURRENT OF
+condition\&. The row to be updated is the one most recently fetched from this cursor\&. The cursor must be a non\-grouping query on the
+\fBUPDATE\fR\*(Aqs target table\&. Note that
+WHERE CURRENT OF
+cannot be specified together with a Boolean condition\&. See
+\fBDECLARE\fR(7)
+for more information about using cursors with
+WHERE CURRENT OF\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIoutput_expression\fR
+.RS 4
+An expression to be computed and returned by the
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+command after each row is updated\&. The expression can use any column names of the table named by
+\fItable_name\fR
+or table(s) listed in
+FROM\&. Write
+*
+to return all columns\&.
+.RE
+.PP
+\fIoutput_name\fR
+.RS 4
+A name to use for a returned column\&.
+.RE
+.SH "OUTPUTS"
+.PP
+On successful completion, an
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+command returns a command tag of the form
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE \fIcount\fR
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.sp
+The
+\fIcount\fR
+is the number of rows updated, including matched rows whose values did not change\&. Note that the number may be less than the number of rows that matched the
+\fIcondition\fR
+when updates were suppressed by a
+BEFORE UPDATE
+trigger\&. If
+\fIcount\fR
+is 0, no rows were updated by the query (this is not considered an error)\&.
+.PP
+If the
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+command contains a
+RETURNING
+clause, the result will be similar to that of a
+\fBSELECT\fR
+statement containing the columns and values defined in the
+RETURNING
+list, computed over the row(s) updated by the command\&.
+.SH "NOTES"
+.PP
+When a
+FROM
+clause is present, what essentially happens is that the target table is joined to the tables mentioned in the
+\fIfrom_item\fR
+list, and each output row of the join represents an update operation for the target table\&. When using
+FROM
+you should ensure that the join produces at most one output row for each row to be modified\&. In other words, a target row shouldn\*(Aqt join to more than one row from the other table(s)\&. If it does, then only one of the join rows will be used to update the target row, but which one will be used is not readily predictable\&.
+.PP
+Because of this indeterminacy, referencing other tables only within sub\-selects is safer, though often harder to read and slower than using a join\&.
+.PP
+In the case of a partitioned table, updating a row might cause it to no longer satisfy the partition constraint of the containing partition\&. In that case, if there is some other partition in the partition tree for which this row satisfies its partition constraint, then the row is moved to that partition\&. If there is no such partition, an error will occur\&. Behind the scenes, the row movement is actually a
+\fBDELETE\fR
+and
+\fBINSERT\fR
+operation\&.
+.PP
+There is a possibility that a concurrent
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+or
+\fBDELETE\fR
+on the row being moved will get a serialization failure error\&. Suppose session 1 is performing an
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+on a partition key, and meanwhile a concurrent session 2 for which this row is visible performs an
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+or
+\fBDELETE\fR
+operation on this row\&. In such case, session 2\*(Aqs
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+or
+\fBDELETE\fR
+will detect the row movement and raise a serialization failure error (which always returns with an SQLSTATE code \*(Aq40001\*(Aq)\&. Applications may wish to retry the transaction if this occurs\&. In the usual case where the table is not partitioned, or where there is no row movement, session 2 would have identified the newly updated row and carried out the
+\fBUPDATE\fR/\fBDELETE\fR
+on this new row version\&.
+.PP
+Note that while rows can be moved from local partitions to a foreign\-table partition (provided the foreign data wrapper supports tuple routing), they cannot be moved from a foreign\-table partition to another partition\&.
+.PP
+An attempt of moving a row from one partition to another will fail if a foreign key is found to directly reference an ancestor of the source partition that is not the same as the ancestor that\*(Aqs mentioned in the
+\fBUPDATE\fR
+query\&.
+.SH "EXAMPLES"
+.PP
+Change the word
+Drama
+to
+Dramatic
+in the column
+kind
+of the table
+films:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE films SET kind = \*(AqDramatic\*(Aq WHERE kind = \*(AqDrama\*(Aq;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Adjust temperature entries and reset precipitation to its default value in one row of the table
+weather:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE weather SET temp_lo = temp_lo+1, temp_hi = temp_lo+15, prcp = DEFAULT
+ WHERE city = \*(AqSan Francisco\*(Aq AND date = \*(Aq2003\-07\-03\*(Aq;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Perform the same operation and return the updated entries:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE weather SET temp_lo = temp_lo+1, temp_hi = temp_lo+15, prcp = DEFAULT
+ WHERE city = \*(AqSan Francisco\*(Aq AND date = \*(Aq2003\-07\-03\*(Aq
+ RETURNING temp_lo, temp_hi, prcp;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Use the alternative column\-list syntax to do the same update:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE weather SET (temp_lo, temp_hi, prcp) = (temp_lo+1, temp_lo+15, DEFAULT)
+ WHERE city = \*(AqSan Francisco\*(Aq AND date = \*(Aq2003\-07\-03\*(Aq;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Increment the sales count of the salesperson who manages the account for Acme Corporation, using the
+FROM
+clause syntax:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE employees SET sales_count = sales_count + 1 FROM accounts
+ WHERE accounts\&.name = \*(AqAcme Corporation\*(Aq
+ AND employees\&.id = accounts\&.sales_person;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Perform the same operation, using a sub\-select in the
+WHERE
+clause:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE employees SET sales_count = sales_count + 1 WHERE id =
+ (SELECT sales_person FROM accounts WHERE name = \*(AqAcme Corporation\*(Aq);
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Update contact names in an accounts table to match the currently assigned salespeople:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE accounts SET (contact_first_name, contact_last_name) =
+ (SELECT first_name, last_name FROM employees
+ WHERE employees\&.id = accounts\&.sales_person);
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.sp
+A similar result could be accomplished with a join:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE accounts SET contact_first_name = first_name,
+ contact_last_name = last_name
+ FROM employees WHERE employees\&.id = accounts\&.sales_person;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.sp
+However, the second query may give unexpected results if
+employees\&.id
+is not a unique key, whereas the first query is guaranteed to raise an error if there are multiple
+id
+matches\&. Also, if there is no match for a particular
+accounts\&.sales_person
+entry, the first query will set the corresponding name fields to NULL, whereas the second query will not update that row at all\&.
+.PP
+Update statistics in a summary table to match the current data:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE summary s SET (sum_x, sum_y, avg_x, avg_y) =
+ (SELECT sum(x), sum(y), avg(x), avg(y) FROM data d
+ WHERE d\&.group_id = s\&.group_id);
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Attempt to insert a new stock item along with the quantity of stock\&. If the item already exists, instead update the stock count of the existing item\&. To do this without failing the entire transaction, use savepoints:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+BEGIN;
+\-\- other operations
+SAVEPOINT sp1;
+INSERT INTO wines VALUES(\*(AqChateau Lafite 2003\*(Aq, \*(Aq24\*(Aq);
+\-\- Assume the above fails because of a unique key violation,
+\-\- so now we issue these commands:
+ROLLBACK TO sp1;
+UPDATE wines SET stock = stock + 24 WHERE winename = \*(AqChateau Lafite 2003\*(Aq;
+\-\- continue with other operations, and eventually
+COMMIT;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.PP
+Change the
+kind
+column of the table
+films
+in the row on which the cursor
+c_films
+is currently positioned:
+.sp
+.if n \{\
+.RS 4
+.\}
+.nf
+UPDATE films SET kind = \*(AqDramatic\*(Aq WHERE CURRENT OF c_films;
+.fi
+.if n \{\
+.RE
+.\}
+.SH "COMPATIBILITY"
+.PP
+This command conforms to the
+SQL
+standard, except that the
+FROM
+and
+RETURNING
+clauses are
+PostgreSQL
+extensions, as is the ability to use
+WITH
+with
+\fBUPDATE\fR\&.
+.PP
+Some other database systems offer a
+FROM
+option in which the target table is supposed to be listed again within
+FROM\&. That is not how
+PostgreSQL
+interprets
+FROM\&. Be careful when porting applications that use this extension\&.
+.PP
+According to the standard, the source value for a parenthesized sub\-list of target column names can be any row\-valued expression yielding the correct number of columns\&.
+PostgreSQL
+only allows the source value to be a
+row constructor
+or a sub\-SELECT\&. An individual column\*(Aqs updated value can be specified as
+DEFAULT
+in the row\-constructor case, but not inside a sub\-SELECT\&.