How to get a value from the last inserted row?

Question

Is there some way to get a value from the last inserted row?

I am inserting a row where the PK will automatically increase, and I would like to get this PK. Only the PK is guaranteed to be unique in the table.

I am using Java with a JDBC and PostgreSQL.

Answer 1

With PostgreSQL you can do it via the RETURNING keyword:

PostgresSQL - RETURNING

INSERT INTO mytable( field_1, field_2,... )
VALUES ( value_1, value_2 ) RETURNING anyfield

It will return the value of "anyfield". "anyfield" may be a sequence or not.

To use it with JDBC, do:

ResultSet rs = statement.executeQuery("INSERT ... RETURNING ID");
rs.next();
rs.getInt(1);

Answer 2

See the API docs for java.sql.Statement.

Basically, when you call executeUpdate() or executeQuery(), use the Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS constant. You can then call getGeneratedKeys to get the auto-generated keys of all rows created by that execution. (Assuming your JDBC driver provides it.)

It goes something along the lines of this:

Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
stmt.execute(sql, Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS);
ResultSet keyset = stmt.getGeneratedKeys();

Answer 3

If you're using JDBC 3.0, then you can get the value of the PK as soon as you inserted it.

Here's an article that talks about how : https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-jdbcnew/

Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
// Obtain the generated key that results from the query.
stmt.executeUpdate("INSERT INTO authors " +
                   "(first_name, last_name) " +
                   "VALUES ('George', 'Orwell')",
                   Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS);
ResultSet rs = stmt.getGeneratedKeys();
if ( rs.next() ) {
    // Retrieve the auto generated key(s).
    int key = rs.getInt(1);
}

Answer 4

Since PostgreSQL JDBC driver version 8.4-701 the PreparedStatement#getGeneratedKeys() is finally fully functional. We use it here almost one year in production to our full satisfaction.

In "plain JDBC" the PreparedStatement needs to be created as follows to make it to return the keys:

statement = connection.prepareStatement(SQL, Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS);

You can download the current JDBC driver version here (which is at the moment still 8.4-701).

Answer 5

The sequences in postgresql are transaction safe. So you can use the

currval(sequence)

Quote:

currval

Return the value most recently obtained by nextval for this sequence in the current session. (An error is reported if nextval has never been called for this sequence in this session.) Notice that because this is returning a session-local value, it gives a predictable answer even if other sessions are executing nextval meanwhile.

Answer 6

Here is how I solved it, based on the answers here:

Connection conn = ConnectToDB(); //ConnectToDB establishes a connection to the database.
String sql = "INSERT INTO \"TableName\"" +
        "(\"Column1\", \"Column2\",\"Column3\",\"Column4\")" +
        "VALUES ('value1',value2, 'value3', 'value4') RETURNING 
         \"TableName\".\"TableId\"";
PreparedStatement prpState = conn.prepareStatement(sql);
ResultSet rs = prpState.executeQuery();
if(rs.next()){
      System.out.println(rs.getInt(1));
        }

Answer 7

If you are using Statement, go for the following

//MY_NUMBER is the column name in the database 
String generatedColumns[] = {"MY_NUMBER"};
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();

//String sql holds the insert query
stmt.executeUpdate(sql, generatedColumns);

ResultSet rs = stmt.getGeneratedKeys();

// The generated id

if(rs.next())
long key = rs.getLong(1);

If you are using PreparedStatement, go for the following

String generatedColumns[] = {"MY_NUMBER"};
PreparedStatement pstmt = conn.prepareStatement(sql,generatedColumns);
pstmt.setString(1, "qwerty");

pstmt.execute();
ResultSet rs = pstmt.getGeneratedKeys();
if(rs.next())
long key = rs.getLong(1);

Answer 8

Use sequences in postgres for id columns:

INSERT mytable(myid) VALUES (nextval('MySequence'));

SELECT currval('MySequence');

currval will return the current value of the sequence in the same session.

(In MS SQL, you would use @@identity or SCOPE_IDENTITY())

Answer 9

PreparedStatement stmt = getConnection(PROJECTDB + 2)
    .prepareStatement("INSERT INTO fonts (font_size) VALUES(?) RETURNING fonts.*");
stmt.setString(1, "986");
ResultSet res = stmt.executeQuery();
while (res.next()) {
    System.out.println("Generated key: " + res.getLong(1));
    System.out.println("Generated key: " + res.getInt(2));
    System.out.println("Generated key: " + res.getInt(3));
}
stmt.close();

Answer 10

Use that simple code:

// Do your insert code

myDataBase.execSQL("INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME (FIELD_NAME1,FIELD_NAME2,...)VALUES (VALUE1,VALUE2,...)");

// Use the sqlite function "last_insert_rowid"

Cursor last_id_inserted = yourBD.rawQuery("SELECT last_insert_rowid()", null);

// Retrieve data from cursor.

last_id_inserted.moveToFirst(); // Don't forget that!

ultimo_id = last_id_inserted.getLong(0);  // For Java, the result is returned on Long type  (64)

Answer 11

If you are in a transaction you can use SELECT lastval() after an insert to get the last generated id.

Answer 12

Don't use SELECT currval('MySequence') - the value gets incremented on inserts that fail.

Answer 13

For MyBatis 3.0.4 with Annotations and Postgresql driver 9.0-801.jdbc4 you define an interface method in your Mapper like

public interface ObjectiveMapper {

@Select("insert into objectives" +
        " (code,title,description) values" +
        " (#{code}, #{title}, #{description}) returning id")
int insert(Objective anObjective);

Note that @Select is used instead of @Insert.

Answer 14

for example:

 Connection conn = null;
            PreparedStatement sth = null;
            ResultSet rs =null;
            try {
                conn = delegate.getConnection();
                sth = conn.prepareStatement(INSERT_SQL);
                sth.setString(1, pais.getNombre());
                sth.executeUpdate();
                rs=sth.getGeneratedKeys();
                if(rs.next()){
                    Integer id = (Integer) rs.getInt(1);
                    pais.setId(id);
                }
            } 

with ,Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS);" no found.