How to 'insert if not exists' in MySQL?

Question

I started by googling, and found this article which talks about mutex tables.

I have a table with ~14 million records. If I want to add more data in the same format, is there a way to ensure the record I want to insert does not already exist without using a pair of queries (ie, one query to check and one to insert is the result set is empty)?

Does a unique constraint on a field guarantee the insert will fail if it's already there?

It seems that with merely a constraint, when I issue the insert via php, the script croaks.

Answer 1

on duplicate key update, or insert ignore can be viable solutions with MySQL.

---

Example of on duplicate key update update based on mysql.com

INSERT INTO table (a,b,c) VALUES (1,2,3)
  ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE c=c+1;

UPDATE table SET c=c+1 WHERE a=1;

---

Example of insert ignore based on mysql.com

INSERT [LOW_PRIORITY | DELAYED | HIGH_PRIORITY] [IGNORE]
    [INTO] tbl_name [(col_name,...)]
    {VALUES | VALUE} ({expr | DEFAULT},...),(...),...
    [ ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
      col_name=expr
        [, col_name=expr] ... ]

Or:

INSERT [LOW_PRIORITY | DELAYED | HIGH_PRIORITY] [IGNORE]
    [INTO] tbl_name
    SET col_name={expr | DEFAULT}, ...
    [ ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
      col_name=expr
        [, col_name=expr] ... ]

Or:

INSERT [LOW_PRIORITY | HIGH_PRIORITY] [IGNORE]
    [INTO] tbl_name [(col_name,...)]
    SELECT ...
    [ ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE
      col_name=expr
        [, col_name=expr] ... ]

Answer 2

Try the following:

IF (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM beta WHERE name = 'John' > 0)
  UPDATE alfa SET c1=(SELECT id FROM beta WHERE name = 'John')
ELSE
BEGIN
  INSERT INTO beta (name) VALUES ('John')
  INSERT INTO alfa (c1) VALUES (LAST_INSERT_ID())
END

Answer 3

Try:

// Check if exist cod = 56789
include "database.php";

$querycheck = mysql_query ("SELECT * FROM `YOURTABLE` WHERE `xxx` = '56789';");
$countrows = mysql_num_rows($querycheck);
if($countrows == '1')
{
  // Exist 
}
else
{
 // .... Not exist
}

Or you can do:

// Check if exist cod = 56789
include "database.php";

$querycheck = mysql_query ("SELECT * FROM `YOURTABLE` WHERE `xxx` = '56789';");
$countrows = mysql_num_rows($querycheck);
while($result = mysql_fetch_array($querycheck))
{
    $xxx = $result['xxx'];
    if($xxx == '56789')
    {
      // Exist
    }
    else
    {
      // Not exist
    }
}

This method is fast and easy. For improve the speed of the query in your big table INDEX columns 'xxx' ( In my example ).