MySQL Trigger Setting All Other Values to NULL When Run - mysql

Question

I have two tables, Accounts and Person:
CREATE TABLE Person(
id INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
Person_Name VARCHAR(17) NOT NULL,
P_Location INT NOT NULL
);
INSERT INTO Person VALUES (1,"Adam",300),(2,"Betty",10),(3,"Louis",60);
CREATE TABLE Accounts(
Person_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
Balance INT DEFAULT 200);
INSERT INTO Accounts VALUES (1,2000),(2,1350),(3,800);
And one trigger, Bonuses:
CREATE TRIGGER Bonuses
AFTER UPDATE ON Person
FOR EACH ROW
UPDATE Accounts
SET Balance = CASE WHEN (SELECT P_Location FROM Person WHERE id = Person_id) = 3 THEN Balance - 150
WHEN (SELECT P_Location FROM Person WHERE id = Person_id) = 7 THEN Balance + 100
WHEN (SELECT P_Location FROM Person WHERE id = Person_id) = 15 THEN Balance - 30
WHEN (SELECT P_Location FROM Person WHERE id = Person_id) = 1 THEN Balance + 200
END;
And I want to make the trigger update the Accounts table according to certain instructions whenever the P_Location on the Person table changes to one of a select few values (3,7,15 and 1). However, as things are they result is incorrect. Assume I run the above code, the tables I get are:
Person
id
Player_Name
P_Location
1
Adam
300
2
Betty
10
3
Louis
60
Accounts
Person_id
Balance
1
2000
2
1350
3
800
Now if I run UPDATE Person SET P_Location = 3 WHERE id = 1; then the Accounts table should yield:
Person_id
Balance
1
1850
2
1350
3
800
However, what I get is
Person_id
Balance
1
1850
2
NULL
3
NULL
Any idea of what I'm doing wrong?

Answer 1

Well, that code did exactly what you said, though it wasn't what you meant!
That's the thing about UPDATE queries, EVERY row will get an update unless a WHERE clause is used to filter what actually gets modified. Nothing is found from the CASE with most records, so any of those will get assigned to NULL. To see this behavior, check this fiddle example.
However, there is good news, all that is needed in the trigger is to add a WHERE clause. Note that I simplified the CASE handling make use of the UPDATE trigger's NEW references:
CREATE TRIGGER Bonuses
AFTER UPDATE ON Person
FOR EACH ROW
UPDATE Accounts
SET Balance = CASE WHEN NEW.P_Location = 3 THEN Balance - 150
WHEN NEW.P_Location = 7 THEN Balance + 100
WHEN NEW.P_Location = 15 THEN Balance - 30
WHEN NEW.P_Location = 1 THEN Balance + 200
END
WHERE Person_id = NEW.id;
So starting with:
Then run: UPDATE Person SET P_Location = 3 WHERE id = 1;
Gives:
Example fiddle with your tables, the simplified trigger case handling, and the output examples from the update query.