About the INSERT Statement

The INSERT statement inserts rows into an existing table.

The simplest recommended form of the INSERT statement has this syntax:

INSERT INTO table_name (list_of_columns)
VALUES (list_of_values);

Every column in list_of_columns must have a valid value in the corresponding position in list_of_values. Therefore, before you insert a row into a table, you must know what columns the table has, and what their valid values are. To get this information using SQL Developer, see Tutorial: Viewing EMPLOYEES Table Properties and Data. To get this information using SQL*Plus, use this statement:

DESCRIBE table_name;

The INSERT statement in the following example inserts a row into the EMPLOYEES table for an employee for which all column values are known.

Using the INSERT Statement When All Information Is Available

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES (
  EMPLOYEE_ID,
  FIRST_NAME,
  LAST_NAME,
  EMAIL,
  PHONE_NUMBER,
  HIRE_DATE,
  JOB_ID,
  SALARY,
  COMMISSION_PCT,
  MANAGER_ID,
  DEPARTMENT_ID
)
VALUES (
  10,              -- EMPLOYEE_ID
  'George',        -- FIRST_NAME
  'Gordon',        -- LAST_NAME
  'GGORDON',       -- EMAIL
  '650.506.2222',  -- PHONE_NUMBER
  '01-JAN-07',     -- HIRE_DATE
  'SA_REP',        -- JOB_ID
  9000,            -- SALARY
  .1,              -- COMMISSION_PCT
  148,             -- MANAGER_ID
  80               -- DEPARTMENT_ID
);

Result:

1 row created.

You do not need to know all column values to insert a row into a table, but you must know the values of all NOT NULL columns. If you do not know the value of a column that can be NULL, you can omit that column from list_of_columns. Its value defaults to NULL.

The INSERT statement in the following example inserts a row into the EMPLOYEES table for an employee for which all column values are known except SALARY. For now, SALARY can have the value NULL. When you know the salary, you can change it with the UPDATE statement (see About the UPDATE Statement).

Using the INSERT Statement When Not All Information Is Available

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES (
  EMPLOYEE_ID,
  FIRST_NAME,
  LAST_NAME,
  EMAIL,
  PHONE_NUMBER,
  HIRE_DATE,
  JOB_ID,          -- Omit SALARY; its value defaults to NULL.
  COMMISSION_PCT,
  MANAGER_ID,
  DEPARTMENT_ID
)
VALUES (
  20,              -- EMPLOYEE_ID
  'John',          -- FIRST_NAME
  'Keats',         -- LAST_NAME
  'JKEATS',        -- EMAIL
  '650.506.3333',  -- PHONE_NUMBER
  '01-JAN-07',     -- HIRE_DATE
  'SA_REP',        -- JOB_ID
  .1,              -- COMMISSION_PCT
  148,             -- MANAGER_ID
  80               -- DEPARTMENT_ID
);

Result:

1 row created.

The INSERT statement in the following example tries to insert a row into the EMPLOYEES table for an employee for which LAST_NAME is not known.

Using the INSERT Statement Incorrectly

INSERT INTO EMPLOYEES (
  EMPLOYEE_ID,
  FIRST_NAME,      -- Omit LAST_NAME (error)
  EMAIL,
  PHONE_NUMBER,
  HIRE_DATE,
  JOB_ID,
  COMMISSION_PCT,
  MANAGER_ID,
  DEPARTMENT_ID
)
VALUES (
  20,              -- EMPLOYEE_ID
  'John',          -- FIRST_NAME
  'JOHN',          -- EMAIL
  '650.506.3333',  -- PHONE_NUMBER
  '01-JAN-07',     -- HIRE_DATE
  'SA_REP',        -- JOB_ID
  .1,              -- COMMISSION_PCT
  148,             -- MANAGER_ID
  80               -- DEPARTMENT_ID
);

Result:

ORA-01400: cannot insert NULL into ("HR"."EMPLOYEES"."LAST_NAME")

About the INSERT Statement

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