What are DML statements in MSSQL?

DML (data manipulation language) statements are the SQL commands that deal with manipulating the data in a database. These statements manage data using database schemas.

DML statements allow the addition, modification, and deletion of the data. They control the access to the data as well. The list of the most commonly used DML commands is as follows:

  • INSERT

  • UPDATE

  • SELECT

  • DELETE

Let's see the uses of all the commands mentioned above.

Insert

The INSERT command helps to insert a new value in a database table.

Syntax

INSERT INTO TableName VALUES();

Update

The UPDATE command helps to update existing data in a table. While updating the data in a database, we have to be very careful because we can update all the rows in a column with the same value unless we use the WHERE clause.

Syntax

UPDATE TableName
SET Column_1 = 'New_Value'
WHERE 
Column_1 = 'Old_Value';

Select

The SELECT command helps to retrieve data from a particular table.

Syntax

SELECT 
      Column_1 , Column_2
FROM 
      TableName

For selecting all the data, we can use the following:

SELECT * FROM TableName

Delete

The DELETE command deletes the data from a specific table. Again, we need to be cautious while deleting something from a database table, so we do not accidentally delete the whole table.

Syntax

DELETE FROM TableName
WHERE Column_Name = 'Value'

To delete all the values from the table, we use the following:

DELETE FROM TableName

Note: It is a best practice to use the primary key in the WHERE clause. To check what we update or delete, we can switch the UPDATE and DELETE statements with the SELECT statement and observe the results.

Example

Let's see the use of the DML statements in the example below:

CREATE DATABASE Educative
GO

USE Educative
GO

CREATE SCHEMA Dept
GO

CREATE TABLE Dept.Department
(
    Department_Id  INT PRIMARY KEY,
    Department_Name VARCHAR(30),
    Department_Floor INT
)
GO

INSERT INTO Dept.Department 
VALUES
     (01,'Human Resource',03),
     (02, 'Development',02),
     (03, 'Technical Content',01)
GO

SELECT * FROM Dept.Department

GO

UPDATE Dept.Department
SET Department_Name = 'TCE'
WHERE 
Department_Floor= 1;
GO

DELETE FROM Dept.Department
WHERE Department_Id = 2
GO

SELECT * FROM Dept.Department
GO
DML statements in MSSQL

Explanation

  • Lines 1–8: We create a database with the name Educative and a database schema called Dept.

  • Lines 10–16: We create a database table called Department with the columns Department_Id, Department_Name, and Department_Floor.

  • Lines 18–40: We use DML statements to add and modify the data in the Department table.

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