I need to add several records to my database table all at once instead of running separate INSERT commands. My table called EmployeeData has three fields: Name, EmployeeNum, and Location.
Right now I’m doing this:
INSERT INTO EmployeeData VALUES ("Mike", 201, "Downtown Branch");
INSERT INTO EmployeeData VALUES ("Sarah", 202, "Downtown Branch");
INSERT INTO EmployeeData VALUES ("Tom", 203, "Uptown Branch");
INSERT INTO EmployeeData VALUES ("Lisa", 204, "Westside Branch");
Is there a way to combine all these into just one INSERT query? I have about 4 different employees to add and want to make it more efficient. What’s the best approach for bulk inserting data like this?
yep! just use one insert with multiple value sets: INSERT INTO EmployeeData VALUES ("Mike", 201, "Downtown Branch"), ("Sarah", 202, "Downtown Branch"), ("Tom", 203, "Uptown Branch"), ("Lisa", 204, "Westside Branch"); way faster!
Interesting! What’s the typical limit before bulk inserts start choking? I’ve heard some databases cap query size or rows per statement - is there a sweet spot for performance?
The multi-row VALUES syntax works great for this. I’ve used it with bigger datasets and it’s way faster than individual INSERT statements - we’re talking 60-70% faster execution times. The database handles everything in one transaction, so it’s more reliable too. Just make sure your column order stays consistent across all rows, and wrap it in a transaction if you need all-or-nothing behavior. For really large bulk operations (hundreds of records), look into your database’s bulk loading tools, but for what you’re doing, single INSERT with multiple VALUES is your best bet.