I have the data I need to create new records in a table.
However, at least some of the records I'll be inserting already exist (possibly all).
What is the proper statement to avoid duplicate records?
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What if you tried? Would you learn from the docs if you read about the SELECT and Predicates on Join? – clifton_h Aug 16 '17 at 13:37
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Look into `WHERE NOT EXISTS`... – Dave C Aug 16 '17 at 13:38
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The proper statement is MERGE https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/statements/merge-transact-sql – David Browne - Microsoft Aug 16 '17 at 13:39
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I'm not sure I would have closed this as duplicate. Another option for you to consider would be to add a unique constraint on the columns which define a pair of records as being "duplicate." With such a constraint in place, any attempt to insert a duplicate would fail at the database level. – Tim Biegeleisen Aug 16 '17 at 13:40
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Thanks for the suggestions. "Where Not Exists" should take care of it and sorry for the duplicate – Russell Alan Aug 16 '17 at 13:54