Question

I am creating a table that has a total of five columns. DUring the main “create” process, I only have enough data to populate four of the columns. Later in the execution of the program, I have the data for the fifth column. I start performing an “INSERT OR REPLACE”. But! I only use the key column and the fifth column in the statement.

When I browse the database, columns two through four are NULL. So, the question is: Is there a way to only update a specific column (including the key) while keeping the existing data in tact?

Answer 1

INSERT OR REPLACE is the wrong statement, as you’ve discovered. Unless you can provide correct values for all the columns, an UPDATE statement is a better choice. Just update the column.

update your_table_name 
set your_column_name = 'New Value'
where your_key_column = 'Something';

In many applications, more caution is called for.

update your_table_name 
set your_column_name = 'New Value'
where your_key_column = 'Something' 
  and your_column_name is null;