36

ROW_NUMBER() is only for used in the SELECT clause in MS SQL Server, but I want to use it for update like the following:

Update MyTab Set MyNo = 123 +  ROW_NUMBER() over (Order By ID)
Where a=b;

then I got Error like,

Windowed functions can only appear in the SELECT or ORDER BY clauses.

How to use ROW_NUMBER() in UPDATE clause?

M.S.
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KentZhou
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3 Answers3

54

You can use a CTE:

;WITH RowNbrs AS (
    SELECT  ID
            , ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ID) AS RowNbr
    FROM    MyTab
    WHERE   a = b
)
UPDATE  t 
SET     t.MyNo = 123 +  r.RowNbr
FROM    MyTab t
        JOIN RowNbrs r ON t.ID = r.ID;
Kevin Suchlicki
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33
DECLARE @MyTable TABLE
(
    ID INT IDENTITY(2,2) PRIMARY KEY,
    MyNum INT,
    ColA INT,
    ColB INT
);

INSERT  @MyTable (ColA, ColB)
SELECT 11, 11 UNION ALL
SELECT 22, 22 UNION ALL
SELECT NULL, NULL UNION ALL
SELECT 33, NULL UNION ALL
SELECT NULL, 44 UNION ALL
SELECT 55, 66;

UPDATE  UpdateTarget
SET     MyNum = RowNum
FROM
(
    SELECT  x.MyNum, ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY x.ID) AS RowNum
    FROM    @MyTable x
    WHERE   x.ColA = x.ColB
) AS UpdateTarget;

SELECT * FROM @MyTable;

Results:

ID          MyNum       ColA        ColB
----------- ----------- ----------- -----------
2           1           11          11
4           2           22          22
6           NULL        NULL        NULL
8           NULL        33          NULL
10          NULL        NULL        44
12          NULL        55          66
Bogdan Sahlean
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9

I would use a CTE

WITH myUpdate ( myRowNumber )
AS
( 
    SELECT ROW_NUMBER() over (order by ID) As myRowNumber
    FROM MyTab
    WHERE a = b
 ) 

update MyTab 
set MyNo = 123 + myRowNumber
FROM myUpdate

You can test this first though by doing a 

select * from myUpdate
Nathan Koop
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