On Thursday 25 August 2005 04:44 am, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hal Vaughan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote on 24/08/2005 17:41:36: > > #> > > > Okay, so INSERT IGNORE only works if I am avoiding duplicate keys. Is > > there > > > any way to use INSERT the way I thought INSERT IGNORE worked -- in other > > > > words is there any keyword for the INSERT command to keep it from > > duplicating > > > rows if there isn't a key? > > I don't think so. But may I inquire why you do not want to have a key? > What you are saying is "How can I do a job without using the tool designed > for the job?". If there is no key, in order to do what you want, MySQL > would have to do a linear search through the table in order to check for > duplicates - the kind of lengthy operation it is designed to avoid > whenever possible. The key is a necessary part of the effect you want to > achieve. > > Alec
I have some routines for entering large amounts of data into different tables. *IF* INSERT IGNORE worked, it was easy for me to simply add "IGNORE " to a query string (this is all in Perl) for tables where I did not want dupes. I also have a number of tables where there are reasons for allowing multiple entries. There are also some tables where items from one source must not be duplicated, where entries from another source should be, since they are counted later. Hal -- MySQL General Mailing List For list archives: http://lists.mysql.com/mysql To unsubscribe: http://lists.mysql.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]