Oracle in a Nutshell

Name

UPDATE

Synopsis

UPDATE 
{table_
                     name[@dblink] 
|table_name PARTITION (partition_name) 
|table_name SUBPARTITION (subpartition_name) 
|view[@dblink]  
|snapshot[@dblink]
}
[table_alias]
SET 
{ column={expr | (subquery) | DEFAULT}
   [,column={expr | (subquery) | DEFAULT} ... ]
| (column[,column ...])=subquery
}
[WHERE condition]
[RETURNING expr[,expr ...] INTO data_item[,data_item ...]]

Changes the value stored in one or more columns of data in one or more tables, views, or snapshots.

Keywords

view

Name of a view to be updated.

snapshot

Name of a snapshot to be updated.

PARTITION

Specifies that data be updated in the partition of table_name identified by partition.

SUBPARTITION

Specifies that data be updated in the subpartition of table_name identified by subpartition.

subquery

Any valid SELECT statement. Note that a subquery may not contain a FOR UPDATE clause.

DEFAULT

Specifies that Oracle should use the default value for the column. If no default is declared, then NULL is used. New with Oracle9i.

table_alias

Alias (or alternate name) for a table, view, or snapshot.

column

Name of a column in the table, view, or snapshot that will be updated.

WHERE

Specifies that only rows meeting condition will be updated. The condition will be evaluated, and only rows that evaluate to TRUE will be updated. If you omit this clause, all rows will be updated.

RETURNING

Specifies that the value(s) of expr for rows updated by this statement be returned. Valid only from within a PL/SQL program.

INTO

Specifies that value(s) ...