Adding data to a newly added column

Question

I added an extra column to my table and now need to populate it against the data already there.

As a dummy example, I have a table already named customers with CustomerID, FirstName, LastName. I've now added a column called MobilePhone and want to populate the final column to match the data already there.

CustomerID        FirstName          LastName            MobilePhone
83276432          Joe                Bloggs
48273452          Ava                Avery
26432346          Jack               Jakes

How do I populate the MobilePhone column for Joe, Ava and Jack?

I've tried

INSERT INTO CUSTOMERS 
(MobilePhone)
WHERE FirstName = 'Joe', 'Ava', 'Jack'
VALUES (07874384243, 07436453264, 07632531627);

Answer 1

Well you can't insert new values into the newly added column in such way.

You can update the newly added column as shown below.

SQL> alter table cust add mobile varchar2(10);

Table altered.

SQL> select * from cust;

    ID NAME             MOBILE
---------- -------------------- ----------
     1 joe
     2 jane


SQL> update cust set mobile='9878765346' where id=1;

1 row updated.

SQL> commit;

Commit complete.

SQL> select * from cust;

    ID NAME         MOBILE
---------- -------------------- ----------
     1 joe          9878765346
     2 jane

If you want to update all records at once, here are some methods you can use one appropriate for you-ORAFAQ:8 Bulk Update Methods Compared