This article on the SQL Insert statement, is part of a series on string manipulation functions, operators and techniques. The previous articles are focused on SQL query techniques, all centered around the task of data preparation and data transformation.

In this article, we’ll walk-through the SQL Pivot and SQL Unpivot operators and how they can be useful to transpose SQL Server data. Also, we’ll discuss both static and dynamic ways to use PIVOT and UNPIVOT relational operators that can be used to transform aggregated distinct values as column(s) in the result-set by specifying all the column values in the PIVOT IN clause.

In this article, we’ll walk-through the SQL update statement to modify one or more existing rows in the table. 

In order to modify data in a table, we’ll use an Update statement, a DML (data manipulation language) statement. A SQL update statement comes with a SET clause where we define the column-and-value as a pair of items. In addition, you can enforce the conditional clause. In order to limit the number of rows, we’ll need to set up a where clause. The condition is defined in the where clause that identifies what rows to modify in the table.

In this article, we are going to learn how to use the SQL LIKE operator, in SQL Server, using regular expressions to find and/or manipulate text. We will start by learning the symbols and basic syntax of using wildcard regular expressions. We will use character sets and repetition expressions to create flexible matching patterns, and along the way, we’ll examine different ways to use the LIKE operator. And then, finally, in the latter part of the section, we will explore some of the most common and most useful regular expression examples.

This article will provide a deep dive into the SQL UNION operator, describing its many uses along with examples and explore some common questions like the differences between UNION vs UNION ALL.