Mysql – SQL UPDATE statement to update a column based on another existing row

MySQLsql

Basically I have a table that has similar format to the below table.

What I want to do is update Col4 based on this logic

if Col2 is null then update Col4 with Col3
if Col2 is not null then find the the value in Col1 which matches the value in Col2. update col4 with with the corresponding value in col3

For example given this table:

| Col1 | Col2 | Col3 | Col4 |
-----------------------------
|  1   |   2  |  A1  |  2   |
-----------------------------
|  2   |   3  |  A2  |  3   |
-----------------------------
|  3   |{null}|  A3  |{null}|

Update it to be this table

| Col1 | Col2 | Col3 | Col4 |
-----------------------------
|  1   |   2  |  A1  |  A2  |
-----------------------------
|  2   |   3  |  A2  |  A3  |
-----------------------------
|  3   |{null}|  A3  |  A3  |

Any direction would be greatly appreciated!

Best Answer

Something like this should work (untested):

UPDATE  table
SET     col4 = CASE WHEN table.col2 IS NULL THEN table.col3 ELSE col2Matches.col3 END
FROM    table
        INNER JOIN table AS col2Matches
            ON  table.col2 = col2Matches.col1

this should let you test it:

SELECT  CASE WHEN table.col2 IS NULL THEN table.col3 ELSE col2Matches.col3 END
FROM    table
        INNER JOIN table AS col2Matches
            ON  table.col2 = col2Matches.col1

Hope this helps,

Pete

Syntax:

ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME} 
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL} 
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES

Example:

ALTER TABLE SomeTable
        ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
 CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
    DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.

Notes:

Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6

Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES or not.

How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable and do not Specify SomeCol's value, then it will Default to 0.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol's value as NULL (and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL will be inserted as the Value.

Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.

SQL update from one Table to another based on a ID match

I believe an UPDATE FROM with a JOIN will help:

MS SQL

UPDATE
    Sales_Import
SET
    Sales_Import.AccountNumber = RAN.AccountNumber
FROM
    Sales_Import SI
INNER JOIN
    RetrieveAccountNumber RAN
ON 
    SI.LeadID = RAN.LeadID;

MySQL and MariaDB

UPDATE
    Sales_Import SI,
    RetrieveAccountNumber RAN
SET
    SI.AccountNumber = RAN.AccountNumber
WHERE
    SI.LeadID = RAN.LeadID;