Re: INSERT, UPDATE, REPLACE INTO alternate key

[M K]

Peter,

Thanks. However, could you help with my original questions?

Q1: Is there a way to supply a separate field to be used as a "key" for a REPLACE INTO or a INSERT INTO command, such as (faux code):

REPLACE INTO mytable (select * from temporary_table) FORCE KEY TO BE id_column;

or

INSERT INTO mytable
SELECT * FROM temporary_table
FORCE KEY TO BE mytable.MYFIELD
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE myfield = temptable.myfield;


Second question is whether modifying the PRIMARY KEY of an existing database, and setting it back after an operation, if that would result in any loss of data, unique identifiers, etc.


Third question is whether concepts that come up in my research such as "alternate key", "foreign key", etc would help in my situation. The situation is that my command does not work because the database table uses the wrong field for a PRIMARY KEY.