How to Add Auto Incremental ID Column to Table with data - mysql

How to Add Auto Incremental ID Column to Table with data. ie. New column will fill with ids in old data
Old user table with data
Name, email,
abc, abc#gmail.com
abcd, abcd#gmial.com
EXPECTED OUTPUT
id, Name, email,
1, abc, abc#gmail.com
2, abcd, abcd#gmial.com


You can write:
ALTER TABLE MY_TABLE ADD id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY


Alter table does no allow you to order the new field so perhaps you need to do it in 2 stages. For example
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS T;
CREATE TABLE T (NAME VARCHAR(10),EMAIL VARCHAR(20));
INSERT INTO T VALUES('ABC','abc#gmail.com'),('ABCD','abcd#gmial.com');
ALTER TABLE T
ADD COLUMN ID INT FIRST;
UPDATE T JOIN(
SELECT NAME, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY NAME DESC) RN FROM T) s
ON S.NAME = T.NAME
SET T.ID = S.RN
;
ALTER TABLE T
MODIFY COLUMN ID INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY;
SELECT * FROM T;
Where id is added and then updated for existing records using row_number with order by
With this result
+----+------+----------------+
| ID | NAME | EMAIL |
+----+------+----------------+
| 1 | ABCD | abcd#gmial.com |
| 2 | ABC | abc#gmail.com |
+----+------+----------------+
2 rows in set (0.00 sec)
The second Alter statement then modifys id.
show create table t;
CREATE TABLE `t` (
`ID` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`NAME` varchar(10) DEFAULT NULL,
`EMAIL` varchar(20) DEFAULT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ID`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=3 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci
If you are not on mysql version 8 or above you will need to replace the row_number bit with row number simulation using variables.
Not that it makes any difference anyway since any query would still need to include an order by to get the outcome you want.

Related

How to concat_ws primarykey(id) and date in a new column on same table?(MySQL)

I need add a new column named date_id by using concat_ws('-', curdate,id) on a same table, the id is a primarykey and auto_increment.
How to do this?
I tried add a column and updated it. it worked, but when I insert some new row, the error showed Filed 'id' doesnot have a default value.
How to solve this?
ALTER TABLE table1 ADD date_id VARCHAR(50);
UPDATE table1 SET date_id = CONCAT_WS('-',date_format(CURDATE(),'%Y%m%d'),id);
update question
I have created a table：
USE table_name;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `gzsrieQA`(
`id` INT(3) UNSIGNED ZEROFILL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`record_id` VARCHAR(50),
`date` date,
`pro_name` VARCHAR(50),
`error_info` VARCHAR(255),
`error_describe` VARCHAR(255),
`reason` VARCHAR(255),
`solution` VARCHAR(255),
`solution_file` BLOB,
`solution_file_name` VARCHAR(50),
PRIMARY KEY ( `id` )
)ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;
ALTER table_name AUTO_INCREMENT = 001;
UPDATE table_name SET record_id = CONCAT_WS('-','SRIE-DSJ-QA',date_format(CURDATE(),'%Y%m%d'),id);
When I insert into some new data, the result showed 'record_id' is null. it means I need a trigger? But the question is if I insert lots of data, the trigger is too slow.Is there any solution to solve this if I don't use trigger?
For example:
|id|record_id|name|
|-----|-----|-----|
|001| |ABC|
|002| |xyz|
# I want to get:
|id|record_id|name|
|-----|-----|-----|
|001|ABC001|ABC|
|002|xyz002|xyz|
# and when I insert into name=AAA, the result is:
|id|record_id|name|
|-----|-----|-----|
|001|ABC001|ABC|
|002|xyz002|xyz|
|003|aaa003|AAA|
THANKS!

I tried MySQL and it allowed your statement however you can set a default and then remove it.
select version();
| version() |
| :-------- |
| 8.0.13 |
create table table1 (id int auto_increment primary key);
✓
insert into table1(id) values (NULL),(NULL),(NULL),(NULL)
✓
ALTER TABLE table1 ADD date_id VARCHAR(50) default '';
✓
UPDATE table1 SET date_id = CONCAT_WS('-',date_format(CURDATE(),'%Y%m%d'),id);
✓
select * from table1
id | date_id
-: | :---------
1 | 20190111-1
2 | 20190111-2
3 | 20190111-3
4 | 20190111-4
show create table table1
Table | Create Table
:----- | :-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
table1 | CREATE TABLE `table1` (<br> `id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,<br> `date_id` varchar(50) DEFAULT '',<br> PRIMARY KEY (`id`)<br>) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=5 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci
alter table table1 alter column date_id DROP DEFAULT, ALGORITHM=INPLACE, LOCK=NONE;
✓
show create table table1;
Table | Create Table
:----- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
table1 | CREATE TABLE `table1` (<br> `id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,<br> `date_id` varchar(50),<br> PRIMARY KEY (`id`)<br>) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=5 DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8mb4 COLLATE=utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci
db<>fiddle here

If mail message doesn't exist, add to mysql database [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How can I do 'insert if not exists' in MySQL?
(11 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I am trying to execute the following query:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
VALUES ('Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022')
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name='value'
);
But this returns an error. Basically I don't want to insert a record if the 'name' field of the record already exists in another record - how to check if the new name is unique?

I'm not actually suggesting that you do this, as the UNIQUE index as suggested by Piskvor and others is a far better way to do it, but you can actually do what you were attempting:
CREATE TABLE `table_listnames` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`name` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
`address` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
`tele` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB;
Insert a record:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'Rupert'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 1 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
SELECT * FROM `table_listnames`;
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
Try to insert the same record again:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'Rupert'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 0 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
Insert a different record:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'John', 'Doe', '022') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'John'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 1 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
SELECT * FROM `table_listnames`;
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
| 2 | John | Doe | 022 |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
And so on...
Update:
To prevent #1060 - Duplicate column name error in case two values may equal, you must name the columns of the inner SELECT:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'Unknown' AS name, 'Unknown' AS address, '022' AS tele) AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'Rupert'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 1 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
SELECT * FROM `table_listnames`;
+----+---------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+---------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
| 2 | John | Doe | 022 |
| 3 | Unknown | Unknown | 022 |
+----+---------+-----------+------+

INSERT doesn't allow WHERE in the syntax.
What you can do: create a UNIQUE INDEX on the field which should be unique (name), then use either:
normal INSERT (and handle the error if the name already exists)
INSERT IGNORE (which will fail silently cause a warning (instead of error) if name already exists)
INSERT ... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE (which will execute the UPDATE at the end if name already exists, see documentation)

Worked :
INSERT INTO users (full_name, login, password)
SELECT 'Mahbub Tito','tito',SHA1('12345') FROM DUAL
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(SELECT login FROM users WHERE login='tito');

MySQL provides a very cute solution :
REPLACE INTO `table` VALUES (5, 'John', 'Doe', SHA1('password'));
Very easy to use since you have declared a unique primary key (here with value 5).

INSERT IGNORE INTO `mytable`
SET `field0` = '2',
`field1` = 12345,
`field2` = 12678;
Here the mysql query, that insert records if not exist and will ignore existing similar records.
----Untested----

You can easily use the following way :
INSERT INTO ... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE ...
In this way, you can insert any new raw and if you have duplicate data, replace a specific column ( The best columns are timestamps ).
For example :
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS Devices (
id INT(6) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
unique_id VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
created_at VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
UNIQUE KEY unique_id (unique_id),
UNIQUE KEY id (id)
)
CHARACTER SET utf8
COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
INSERT INTO Devices(unique_id, time)
VALUES('$device_id', '$current_time')
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE time = '$current_time';

To overcome a similar problem, I have modified the table to have a unique column. Using your example, on creation I would have something like:
name VARCHAR(20),
UNIQUE (name)
and then use the following query when inserting into it:
INSERT IGNORE INTO train
set table_listnames='Rupert'

If you really can't get a unique index on the table, you could try...
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT 'Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022'
FROM some_other_table
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT name
FROM table_listnames
WHERE name='Rupert')
LIMIT 1;

This query works well:
INSERT INTO `user` ( `username` , `password` )
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'ersks', md5( 'Nepal' )) AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT `username` FROM `user` WHERE `username` = 'ersks'
AND `password` = md5( 'Nepal' )) LIMIT 1
And you can create the table using following query:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `user` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`username` varchar(30) NOT NULL,
`password` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
`status` tinyint(1) DEFAULT '0',
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=1 ;
Note: Create table using second query before trying to use first query.

Brian Hooper :
You almost hit the point but you have an error in your synatx. Your insert will never work. I tested on my database and here is the right answer:
INSERT INTO podatki (datum,ura,meritev1,meritev1_sunki,impulzi1,meritev2,meritev2_sunki,impulzi2)
SELECT '$datum', '$ura', '$meritve1','$sunki1','$impulzi1','$meritve2','$sunki2','$impulzi2'
FROM dual
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT datum,ura
FROM podatki
WHERE datum='$datum' and ura='$ura'
I'm giving you my example of y table. Insert is almost the same like Bian Hooper wrote, except that I put the select FROM DUAL ont from other table.
Cind regards, Ivan

This is not an answer, it's just a note. The query like the one in the accepted answer does not work if the inserted values are duplicates, like here:
INSERT INTO `addr` (`email`, `name`)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'user#domain.tld', 'user#domain.tld') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT `email` FROM `addr` WHERE `email` LIKE 'user#domain.tld'
);
Error
SQL query: Copy Documentation
MySQL said: Documentation
#1060 - Duplicate column name 'user#domain.tld'
In the contrary, the query like the one from Mahbub Tito's answer works fine:
INSERT INTO `addr` (`email`, `name`)
SELECT 'user#domain.tld', 'user#domain.tld'
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT `email` FROM `addr` WHERE `email` LIKE 'user#domain.tld'
);
1 row inserted.
Tested in MariaDB

insert into customer_keyskill(customerID, keySkillID)
select 2,1 from dual
where not exists (
select customerID from customer_keyskill
where customerID = 2
and keySkillID = 1 )

You are inserting not Updating the result.
You can define the name column in primary column or set it is unique.

I had a problem, and the method Mike advised worked partly, I had an error Dublicate Column name = '0', and changed the syntax of your query as this`
$tQ = "INSERT INTO names (name_id, surname_id, sum, sum2, sum3,sum4,sum5)
SELECT '$name', '$surname', '$sum', '$sum2', '$sum3','$sum4','$sum5'
FROM DUAL
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT sum FROM names WHERE name_id = '$name'
AND surname_id = '$surname') LIMIT 1;";
The problem was with column names. sum3 was equal to sum4 and mysql throwed dublicate column names, and I wrote the code in this syntax and it worked perfectly,

I had a similar problem and I needed to insert multiple if not existing. So from the examples above I came to this combination... it's here just in case somebody would need it.
Notice:
I had to define name everywhere as MSSQL required it... MySQL works with * too.
INSERT INTO names (name)
SELECT name
FROM
(
SELECT name
FROM
(
SELECT 'Test 4' as name
) AS tmp_single
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(
SELECT name FROM names WHERE name = 'Test 4'
)
UNION ALL
SELECT name
FROM
(
SELECT 'Test 5' as name
) AS tmp_single
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(
SELECT name FROM names WHERE name = 'Test 5'
)
) tmp_all;
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE names (
OID int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
name varchar(32) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (OID),
UNIQUE KEY name_UNIQUE (name)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=1;
or
MSSQL:
CREATE TABLE [names] (
[OID] INT IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL,
[name] NVARCHAR (32) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([OID] ASC)
);
CREATE UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [Index_Names_Name] ON [names]([name] ASC);

This query can be used in PHP code.
I have an ID column in this table, so I need check for duplication for all columns except this ID column:
#need to change values
SET #goodsType = 1, #sybType=5, #deviceId = asdf12345SDFasdf2345;
INSERT INTO `devices` (`goodsTypeId`, `goodsId`, `deviceId`) #need to change tablename and columnsnames
SELECT * FROM (SELECT #goodsType, #sybType, #deviceId) AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT 'goodsTypeId' FROM `devices` #need to change tablename and columns names
WHERE `goodsTypeId` = #goodsType
AND `goodsId` = #sybType
AND `deviceId` = #deviceId
) LIMIT 1;
and now new item will be added only in case of there is not exist row with values configured in SET string

How to make MySQL table primary key auto increment with some prefix

I have table like this
table
id Varchar(45) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
name CHAR(30) NOT NULL,
I want to increment my id field like 'LHPL001','LHPL002','LHPL003'... etc.
What should I have to do for that? Please let me know any possible way.

If you really need this you can achieve your goal with help of separate table for sequencing (if you don't mind) and a trigger.
Tables
CREATE TABLE table1_seq
(
id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY
);
CREATE TABLE table1
(
id VARCHAR(7) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT '0', name VARCHAR(30)
);
Now the trigger
DELIMITER $$
CREATE TRIGGER tg_table1_insert
BEFORE INSERT ON table1
FOR EACH ROW
BEGIN
INSERT INTO table1_seq VALUES (NULL);
SET NEW.id = CONCAT('LHPL', LPAD(LAST_INSERT_ID(), 3, '0'));
END$$
DELIMITER ;
Then you just insert rows to table1
INSERT INTO Table1 (name)
VALUES ('Jhon'), ('Mark');
And you'll have
| ID | NAME |
------------------
| LHPL001 | Jhon |
| LHPL002 | Mark |
Here is SQLFiddle demo

Create a table with a normal numeric auto_increment ID, but either define it with ZEROFILL, or use LPAD to add zeroes when selecting. Then CONCAT the values to get your intended behavior. Example #1:
create table so (
id int(3) unsigned zerofill not null auto_increment primary key,
name varchar(30) not null
);
insert into so set name = 'John';
insert into so set name = 'Mark';
select concat('LHPL', id) as id, name from so;
+---------+------+
| id | name |
+---------+------+
| LHPL001 | John |
| LHPL002 | Mark |
+---------+------+
Example #2:
create table so (
id int unsigned not null auto_increment primary key,
name varchar(30) not null
);
insert into so set name = 'John';
insert into so set name = 'Mark';
select concat('LHPL', LPAD(id, 3, 0)) as id, name from so;
+---------+------+
| id | name |
+---------+------+
| LHPL001 | John |
| LHPL002 | Mark |
+---------+------+

I know it is late but I just want to share on what I have done for this. I'm not allowed to add another table or trigger so I need to generate it in a single query upon insert. For your case, can you try this query.
CREATE TABLE YOURTABLE(
IDNUMBER VARCHAR(7) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
ENAME VARCHAR(30) not null
);
Perform a select and use this select query and save to the parameter #IDNUMBER
(SELECT IFNULL
(CONCAT('LHPL',LPAD(
(SUBSTRING_INDEX
(MAX(`IDNUMBER`), 'LHPL',-1) + 1), 5, '0')), 'LHPL001')
AS 'IDNUMBER' FROM YOURTABLE ORDER BY `IDNUMBER` ASC)
And then Insert query will be :
INSERT INTO YOURTABLE(IDNUMBER, ENAME) VALUES
(#IDNUMBER, 'EMPLOYEE NAME');
The result will be the same as the other answer but the difference is, you will not need to create another table or trigger. I hope that I can help someone that have a same case as mine.

Here is PostgreSQL example without trigger if someone need it on PostgreSQL:
CREATE SEQUENCE messages_seq;
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS messages (
id CHAR(20) NOT NULL DEFAULT ('message_' || nextval('messages_seq')),
name CHAR(30) NOT NULL,
);
ALTER SEQUENCE messages_seq OWNED BY messages.id;

Two primary keys & auto increment

I have a MySQL table with two fields as primary key (ID & Account), ID has AUTO_INCREMENT.
This results in the following MySQL table:
ID | Account
------------------
1 | 1
2 | 1
3 | 2
4 | 3
However, I expected the following result (restart AUTO_INCREMENT for each Account):
ID | Account
------------------
1 | 1
2 | 1
1 | 2
1 | 3
What is wrong in my configuration? How can I fix this?
Thanks!

Functionality you're describing is possible only with MyISAM engine. You need to specify the CREATE TABLE statement like this:
CREATE TABLE your_table (
id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
account_id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY(account_id, id)
) ENGINE = MyISAM;

If you use an innoDB engine, you can use a trigger like this:
CREATE TRIGGER `your_table_before_ins_trig` BEFORE INSERT ON `your_table`
FOR EACH ROW
begin
declare next_id int unsigned default 1;
-- get the next ID for your Account Number
select max(ID) + 1 into next_id from your_table where Account = new.Account;
-- if there is no Account number yet, set the ID to 1 by default
IF next_id IS NULL THEN SET next_id = 1; END IF;
set new.ID= next_id;
end#
Note ! your delimiter column is # in the sql statement above !
This solution works for a table like yours if you create it without any auto_increment functionality like this:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `your_table` (
`ID` int(11) NOT NULL,
`Account` int(11) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`ID`,`Account`)
);
Now you can insert your values like this:
INSERT INTO your_table (`Account`) VALUES (1);
INSERT INTO your_table (`Account`, `ID`) VALUES (1, 5);
INSERT INTO your_table (`Account`) VALUES (2);
INSERT INTO your_table (`Account`, `ID`) VALUES (3, 10205);
It will result in this:
ID | Account
------------------
1 | 1
2 | 1
1 | 2
1 | 3

MySQL: Insert record if not exists in table [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
How can I do 'insert if not exists' in MySQL?
(11 answers)
Closed 2 years ago.
I am trying to execute the following query:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
VALUES ('Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022')
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name='value'
);
But this returns an error. Basically I don't want to insert a record if the 'name' field of the record already exists in another record - how to check if the new name is unique?

I'm not actually suggesting that you do this, as the UNIQUE index as suggested by Piskvor and others is a far better way to do it, but you can actually do what you were attempting:
CREATE TABLE `table_listnames` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment,
`name` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
`address` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
`tele` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB;
Insert a record:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'Rupert'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 1 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
SELECT * FROM `table_listnames`;
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
Try to insert the same record again:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'Rupert'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 0 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
Insert a different record:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'John', 'Doe', '022') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'John'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 1 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
SELECT * FROM `table_listnames`;
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
| 2 | John | Doe | 022 |
+----+--------+-----------+------+
And so on...
Update:
To prevent #1060 - Duplicate column name error in case two values may equal, you must name the columns of the inner SELECT:
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'Unknown' AS name, 'Unknown' AS address, '022' AS tele) AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT name FROM table_listnames WHERE name = 'Rupert'
) LIMIT 1;
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec)
Records: 1 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0
SELECT * FROM `table_listnames`;
+----+---------+-----------+------+
| id | name | address | tele |
+----+---------+-----------+------+
| 1 | Rupert | Somewhere | 022 |
| 2 | John | Doe | 022 |
| 3 | Unknown | Unknown | 022 |
+----+---------+-----------+------+

INSERT doesn't allow WHERE in the syntax.
What you can do: create a UNIQUE INDEX on the field which should be unique (name), then use either:
normal INSERT (and handle the error if the name already exists)
INSERT IGNORE (which will fail silently cause a warning (instead of error) if name already exists)
INSERT ... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE (which will execute the UPDATE at the end if name already exists, see documentation)

Worked :
INSERT INTO users (full_name, login, password)
SELECT 'Mahbub Tito','tito',SHA1('12345') FROM DUAL
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(SELECT login FROM users WHERE login='tito');

MySQL provides a very cute solution :
REPLACE INTO `table` VALUES (5, 'John', 'Doe', SHA1('password'));
Very easy to use since you have declared a unique primary key (here with value 5).

INSERT IGNORE INTO `mytable`
SET `field0` = '2',
`field1` = 12345,
`field2` = 12678;
Here the mysql query, that insert records if not exist and will ignore existing similar records.
----Untested----

You can easily use the following way :
INSERT INTO ... ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE ...
In this way, you can insert any new raw and if you have duplicate data, replace a specific column ( The best columns are timestamps ).
For example :
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS Devices (
id INT(6) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
unique_id VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
created_at VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
UNIQUE KEY unique_id (unique_id),
UNIQUE KEY id (id)
)
CHARACTER SET utf8
COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
INSERT INTO Devices(unique_id, time)
VALUES('$device_id', '$current_time')
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE time = '$current_time';

To overcome a similar problem, I have modified the table to have a unique column. Using your example, on creation I would have something like:
name VARCHAR(20),
UNIQUE (name)
and then use the following query when inserting into it:
INSERT IGNORE INTO train
set table_listnames='Rupert'

If you really can't get a unique index on the table, you could try...
INSERT INTO table_listnames (name, address, tele)
SELECT 'Rupert', 'Somewhere', '022'
FROM some_other_table
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT name
FROM table_listnames
WHERE name='Rupert')
LIMIT 1;

This query works well:
INSERT INTO `user` ( `username` , `password` )
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'ersks', md5( 'Nepal' )) AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT `username` FROM `user` WHERE `username` = 'ersks'
AND `password` = md5( 'Nepal' )) LIMIT 1
And you can create the table using following query:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `user` (
`id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
`username` varchar(30) NOT NULL,
`password` varchar(32) NOT NULL,
`status` tinyint(1) DEFAULT '0',
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1 AUTO_INCREMENT=1 ;
Note: Create table using second query before trying to use first query.

Brian Hooper :
You almost hit the point but you have an error in your synatx. Your insert will never work. I tested on my database and here is the right answer:
INSERT INTO podatki (datum,ura,meritev1,meritev1_sunki,impulzi1,meritev2,meritev2_sunki,impulzi2)
SELECT '$datum', '$ura', '$meritve1','$sunki1','$impulzi1','$meritve2','$sunki2','$impulzi2'
FROM dual
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT datum,ura
FROM podatki
WHERE datum='$datum' and ura='$ura'
I'm giving you my example of y table. Insert is almost the same like Bian Hooper wrote, except that I put the select FROM DUAL ont from other table.
Cind regards, Ivan

This is not an answer, it's just a note. The query like the one in the accepted answer does not work if the inserted values are duplicates, like here:
INSERT INTO `addr` (`email`, `name`)
SELECT * FROM (SELECT 'user#domain.tld', 'user#domain.tld') AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT `email` FROM `addr` WHERE `email` LIKE 'user#domain.tld'
);
Error
SQL query: Copy Documentation
MySQL said: Documentation
#1060 - Duplicate column name 'user#domain.tld'
In the contrary, the query like the one from Mahbub Tito's answer works fine:
INSERT INTO `addr` (`email`, `name`)
SELECT 'user#domain.tld', 'user#domain.tld'
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT `email` FROM `addr` WHERE `email` LIKE 'user#domain.tld'
);
1 row inserted.
Tested in MariaDB

insert into customer_keyskill(customerID, keySkillID)
select 2,1 from dual
where not exists (
select customerID from customer_keyskill
where customerID = 2
and keySkillID = 1 )

You are inserting not Updating the result.
You can define the name column in primary column or set it is unique.

I had a problem, and the method Mike advised worked partly, I had an error Dublicate Column name = '0', and changed the syntax of your query as this`
$tQ = "INSERT INTO names (name_id, surname_id, sum, sum2, sum3,sum4,sum5)
SELECT '$name', '$surname', '$sum', '$sum2', '$sum3','$sum4','$sum5'
FROM DUAL
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT sum FROM names WHERE name_id = '$name'
AND surname_id = '$surname') LIMIT 1;";
The problem was with column names. sum3 was equal to sum4 and mysql throwed dublicate column names, and I wrote the code in this syntax and it worked perfectly,

I had a similar problem and I needed to insert multiple if not existing. So from the examples above I came to this combination... it's here just in case somebody would need it.
Notice:
I had to define name everywhere as MSSQL required it... MySQL works with * too.
INSERT INTO names (name)
SELECT name
FROM
(
SELECT name
FROM
(
SELECT 'Test 4' as name
) AS tmp_single
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(
SELECT name FROM names WHERE name = 'Test 4'
)
UNION ALL
SELECT name
FROM
(
SELECT 'Test 5' as name
) AS tmp_single
WHERE NOT EXISTS
(
SELECT name FROM names WHERE name = 'Test 5'
)
) tmp_all;
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE names (
OID int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
name varchar(32) COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (OID),
UNIQUE KEY name_UNIQUE (name)
) ENGINE=InnoDB AUTO_INCREMENT=1;
or
MSSQL:
CREATE TABLE [names] (
[OID] INT IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL,
[name] NVARCHAR (32) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([OID] ASC)
);
CREATE UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED INDEX [Index_Names_Name] ON [names]([name] ASC);

This query can be used in PHP code.
I have an ID column in this table, so I need check for duplication for all columns except this ID column:
#need to change values
SET #goodsType = 1, #sybType=5, #deviceId = asdf12345SDFasdf2345;
INSERT INTO `devices` (`goodsTypeId`, `goodsId`, `deviceId`) #need to change tablename and columnsnames
SELECT * FROM (SELECT #goodsType, #sybType, #deviceId) AS tmp
WHERE NOT EXISTS (
SELECT 'goodsTypeId' FROM `devices` #need to change tablename and columns names
WHERE `goodsTypeId` = #goodsType
AND `goodsId` = #sybType
AND `deviceId` = #deviceId
) LIMIT 1;
and now new item will be added only in case of there is not exist row with values configured in SET string