Question

In PHP, I create and execute SQL queries like the following.

INSERT INTO Table (Column1, Column2, Column3) VALUES
('1', '2', '3'),
('A', 'B', 'C'),
('AA', 'BB', 'CC');

However, the order in which they are inserted into the database is different every time I try this. Is there a way that I can ensure that they are inserted in the order they are listed?

Addition:
Thanks guys for the help. I have using PHP to create MySQL tables from CSV files for a while. In the past, I have always used created a table and inserted all the rows all at once. In these case, the SQL table always had the same order as my INSERT query. However, now I am creating a MySQL and then adding contents gradually. This is when the database order becomes random.

I have overcome this by using ALTER TABLE … ORDER BY queries, but I am curious as there was order in the first case and now it seems very random.

Answer 1

The default order is what the order of insert statements executed. Unless there’s a hierarchical relationship between the rows, the inserted order is irrelevant. If you want the output in a consistent fashion, you must define an ORDER BY clause in your query.