Question

I would like to insert a record into a table if a record doesnt exist already exist with that domain name. The following SQL should achieve this but is getting an error.

The reason I want to do the update first is because I am doing multiple updates later in my code and need the record in my table first before doing all of the updates.

Why am I getting an error on this mySQL query?

insert into domain (name) 
values ('domain.com.au') 
WHERE NOT EXISTS 
(
    select name 
    from domain 
    where name = 'domain.com.au'
);

Both queries when split work fine but when together do not.

Answer 1

Let your database handle it for you. Use a unique index on name and your INSERT will fail if you try to insert a duplicate.

CREATE UNIQUE INDEX idx_name ON domain (name)