Update one table's data from another table (but skip identical records)

From: <gordon_at_panix.com>
Date: 12 Feb 2007 15:15:16 -0800
Message-ID: <1171322116.586750.116910@s48g2000cws.googlegroups.com>

I'm looking for a way to update data in one table with data from another table.

More specifically, if there are any records in the two tables which have matching primary keys but differing data in at least one other column, I need to update the values in the old table from the new table.

I can't just do a blanket update of every record, because that would result in a lot of unneccesary updates -- I only want to update records which actually have different data.

I tried an UPDATE FROM statement, but Oracle doesn't support that.

I tried a MERGE INTO statement, but Oracle 9i requires action to be taken both when the records match *and* when they don't. Bah!

Any suggestions? Received on Mon Feb 12 2007 - 17:15:16 CST