Insert multiple rows using one insert statement in Access 2010 - ms-access

Question

I want to insert multiple values into an Access 2010 table, but I can't seem to find a way.
MySQL had a nice way:
INSERT INTO Production.UnitMeasure
VALUES
(N'FT2', N'Square Feet ', '20080923'),
(N'Y', N'Yards', '20080923'),
(N'Y3', N'Cubic Yards', '20080923');
Can something like this be done in SQL Server too?

Answer 1

As marc_s has pointed out, for SQL Server 2008 and later, you can just use table value constructors. For previous versions, you can use insert and select...union all, e.g.:
INSERT INTO Production.UnitMeasure
SELECT N'FT2',N'Square Feet ','20080923' union all
SELECT N'Y', N'Yards', '20080923' union all
SELECT N'Y3', N'Cubic Yards', '20080923'
(Specific documentation on Table Value Constructors in SQL Server. I can't find specific separate documentation on row value constructors, but that's what they are)

Answer 2

Use this confirm working query:
INSERT INTO Product (Code,Name,IsActive,CreatedById,CreatedDate )
SELECT * FROM
(
SELECT '10001000' AS Code,
'Blackburn sunglasses' AS Name,
1 AS IsActive,
1 AS CreatedById,
'2/20/2015 12:23:00 AM' AS CreatedDate
FROM Product
UNION
SELECT '10005200' AS Code,
'30 panel football' AS Name,
1 AS IsActive,
1 AS CreatedById,
'2/20/2015 12:23:09 AM' AS CreatedDate
FROM Product
) ;

Answer 3

For SQL-Server: Yes, and it can exactly like you write. Just be certain that the column values are in the same order as they appear in the table. Also: you must supply a value for each existing column.
For Access 2010: No. At least not by hardcoded values in the sql, but only by selecting multiple records from a table (in the same or in another database). See also the link in the answer of Khepri.

Answer 4

SQL Server definitely allows this: EDIT: [As of SQL Server 2008, thank you Marc_s]
INSERT INTO [Table]
([COL1], [COL2])
VALUES
('1#1.com', 1),
('2#2.com', 2)
As for the Access requirement, I'm no access guru but I found this MSDN documentation that shows how to do multiple inserts at once.
INSERT INTO target [(field1[, field2[, …]])] [IN externaldatabase]
SELECT [source.]field1[, field2[, …] FROM tableexpression
Doing some cursory reading beyond this, you can use a "dummy" from table if all of your values are known ahead of time as in your example.

Answer 5

Create a table called OneRow with a single integer column. Insert one row.
Then:
INSERT INTO Production.UnitMeasure
SELECT 'FT2', 'Square Feet ', '20080923' FROM OneRow
UNION ALL SELECT 'Y', 'Yards', '20080923' FROM OneRow
UNION ALL SELECT 'Y3', 'Cubic Yards', '20080923' FROM OneRow
Your exact syntax works on SQL Server 2008. For earlier use my above query without the FROM clauses and no helper table.

Answer 6

I know its late to answer, but there are a couple of methods which are still useful today, (not mentioned here).
There are two general methods.
Loop through using a VBA script with the 'Docmd.RunSQL' statement. - This is generally quite slow especially as the number of rows increases but easy to understand.
Copy your 'data array' into an excel worksheet and then use a database query link to the excel file (my preferred method) - Benefits of this is it is almost as fast as if the table was already in the database and not necessarily slowed down by the number of records as the previous method - slightly slower than the above when you have a small number of records however
The Docmd Method:
Option Compare Database
Option Base 1
'------- method created by Syed Noshahi --------
'https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-n-928b2490/
Sub DoCmdRoutine()
Dim arr() As Variant ' create an unsized array ready for data
'--------------For the purposes of the Example, put some data in the array----------
ReDim arr(5, 5)
For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
For j = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
arr(i, j) = i * j
If i = LBound(arr) Then arr(i, j) = "col_" & arr(i, j) 'Append "col_" before the column names
Next
Next
'-------------Importing the data to a table in MS ACCESS----------------------------
sSQL = "INSERT INTO [#TableTemp] " ' change table to actual table name
DoCmd.SetWarnings False 'turn warnings off - no popups!
For i = 2 To UBound(arr) 'start at 2 assuming that the first columns are headers
vals = "" 'go through each column and copy the data to SQL string format
'replace any single quote with double quotes so it does not error importing into SQL
For j = 1 To UBound(arr, 2)
If IsDate(arr(i, j)) Then 'if a date, convert to a number and let access re-covert to date (best chance at success)
vals = vals & " cdate('" & CDbl(arr(i, j)) & "'),"
ElseIf IsNumeric(arr(i, j)) Then 'if a number put through as a number
vals = vals & arr(i, j) & ","
Else 'otherwise treat as a text value
vals = vals & Replace(arr(i, j), "'", "''", , , 1) & "',"
End If
Next
vals = " VALUES(" & Left(vals, Len(vals) - 1) & ")" 'put in correct sql format
DoCmd.RunSQL sSQL & vals 'Run the SQL statement and import into the database
Next
DoCmd.SetWarnings True 'turn warnings on
End Sub
The Excel Link Method:
Option Compare Database
Option Base 1
'------- method created by Syed Noshahi --------
'https://www.linkedin.com/in/syed-n-928b2490/
Sub ExcelLinkRoutine()
Dim arr() As Variant ' create an unsized array ready for data
Dim oExcel As Object ' Excel instance - late binding
' works with access 2007+, access 2003 has a different SQL syntax
'--------------For the purposes of the Example, put some data in the array----------
ReDim arr(5, 5)
For i = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
For j = LBound(arr) To UBound(arr)
arr(i, j) = i * j
If i = LBound(arr) Then arr(i, j) = "col_" & arr(i, j) 'Append "col_" before the column names
Next
Next
'----------------------------output the array to an excel file ---------------------
Set oExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
oExcel.Workbooks.Add 1
Set wb = oExcel.ActiveWorkbook
'network file path & normal path examples below
'fileNameWithExtention = "\\networkpath\location\example999.xlsb" ' note that xlsb file format must be used
' other formats can be used by changing 'xlExcel12'
' ONLY change the path not the FILE NAME
fileNameWithExtention = "C:\Users\public\documents\example999.xlsb" ' same as above
checkFileExists = Dir(fileNameWithExtention)
If Len(checkFileExists) > 0 Then
'only delete the file if its called example999!
If checkFileExists = "example999.xlsb" Then
Kill fileNameWithExtention
End If
End If
With wb
.Sheets(1).Cells(1, 1).Resize(UBound(arr), UBound(arr, 2)).Value2 = arr()
.SaveAs fileNameWithExtention, 50 ' 50 means xlExcel12
.Close False
End With
Set wb = Nothing
Set oExcel = Nothing
'------------ Importing the data to a table in MS ACCESS-----------------------------
'NOTE1: The saved down excelfile MUST be named Sheet1
'NOTE2: if the file path contains special characters such as ,-'
' you may need find the correct way to input (or remove the special chars)
sSQL = "SELECT T1.* INTO [#TableTemp] " ' change table to actual table name
sSQL = sSQL & " FROM [Excel 12.0;HDR=YES;IMEX=2;ACCDB=YES;DATABASE=" & fileNameWithExtention & "].[Sheet1$] as T1;" ' linked table format
DoCmd.SetWarnings False 'turn warnings off - no popups!
DoCmd.RunSQL sSQL 'Run the SQL statement and import into the database
DoCmd.SetWarnings True 'turn warnings on
End Sub
OUTPUT:
Col_1
Col_2
Col_3
Col_4
Col_5
2
4
6
8
10
3
6
9
12
15
4
8
12
16
20
5
10
15
20
25

Answer 7

MS Access does not allow multiple insert from same sql window. If you want to insert, say 10 rows in table, say movie (mid, mname, mdirector,....), you would need to
open the sql windows,
type the 1st stmt, execute 1st stmt, delete 1st stmt
type the 2nd stmt, execute 2nd stmt, delete 2nd stmt
type the 3rd stmt, execute 3rd stmt, delete 3rd stmt ......
Very boring.
Instead you could import the lines from excel by doing:
Right-click on the table name that you have already created
Import from Excel (Import dialog box is opened)
Browse to the excel file containing the records to be imported in the table
Click on "Append a copy of the records to the table:"
Select the required table (in this example movie)
Click on "OK"
Select the worksheet that contains the data in the spreadsheet
Click on Finish
The whole dataset in the excel has been loaded in the table "MOVIE"

Answer 8

I know I'm a bit late to the game, but I was wanting to do the exact same thing you guys mentioned in your example. I was trying to insert a new list of default rows into a table/list using Access because I've had a lot of SQL experience, I was trying to do it the same way, however as you posters have noted, it's not possible to do the Unions and such.
However I just wanted to post a reply up here because in the case where you're manually typing in the values (string default values in this case) you can simply open Access in datasheet view, copy your data from Excel and just paste it into your Access table (or in my case, SharePoint list). You'll need to make sure you're columns are lined up exactly, but if you were going to manually type in your "insert" sql statements, just putting that info into an Excel spreadsheet shouldn't be a big deal.
In my case, my table/list only had a single column as a lookup, so I just copied the column from notepad++ and pasted it into the datasheet view.
Good luck everyone!

Answer 9

Check following,
INSERT INTO [Customer] ([Id],[FirstName],[LastName],[City],[Country],[Phone])VALUES(1,'Maria','Anders','Berlin','Germany','030-0074321')
INSERT INTO [Customer] ([Id],[FirstName],[LastName],[City],[Country],[Phone])VALUES(2,'Ana','Trujillo','México D.F.','Mexico','(5) 555-4729')