How do I insert multiple values into a postgres table at once?

Question

I have a table that I am trying to update multiple values at once. Here is the table schema:

    Column     |  Type   | Modifiers 
---------------+---------+-----------
 user_id       | integer | 
 subservice_id | integer |

I have the user_id and want to insert multiple subservice_id's at once. Is there a syntax in Postgres that will let me do something like this

insert into user_subservices(user_id, subservice_id) values(1, [1, 2, 3]);

How would I do this?

Answer 1

Try:

INSERT INTO user_subservices(user_id, subservice_id) 
SELECT 1 id, x
FROM    unnest(ARRAY[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,22,33]) x

Demo: http://www.sqlfiddle.com/#!15/9a006/1

Answer 2

Multi-value insert syntax is:

insert into table_name values (1,1), (1,2), (1,3), (2,1);

When you need to specify columns:

insert into table_name (user_id, subservice_id) values
  (1, 1),
  (1, 2),
  (1, 3),
  (2, 1);

When you need to get the inserted id for example:

insert into table_name (user_id, subservice_id) values
  (1, 1),
  (1, 2),
  (1, 3),
  (2, 1)
returning id;

Answer 3

For multiple values, this function might be helpful.

This function generates multiple values

const _multiInsert = arrOfValues => {
    // removes lastCharacter
    const _remLastChar = str => str.slice(0, str.length - 1);

      let foramttedQuery = '';

      arrOfValues.forEach(row => {
        let newRow = '';
        for (const val of Object.values(row)) {
          let newValue = '';
          if (typeof val === 'string') newValue = `'${val}',`;
          else newValue = `${val},`;
          newRow = newRow.concat(newValue);
        }

        foramttedQuery = foramttedQuery.concat(`(${_remLastChar(newRow)}),`);
      });

      return _remLastChar(foramttedQuery);
    };

    const arr_Of_Values = [
        {
            id: 1,
            name: "SAMPLE_NAME_1",
        },
        {
            id: 2,
            name: "SAMPLE_NAME2",
        }
    ]

    const query_template = `INSERT INTO TABLE_NAME VALUES ${_multiInsert(arr_Of_Values)}`
    
 console.log(query_template)   

Answer 4

More robust example, for when you need to insert multiple rows into some table for every row in another table:

INSERT INTO user_subservices (user_id, subservice_id)
SELECT users.id AS user_id, subservice_id
FROM users
CROSS JOIN unnest(ARRAY[1,2,3]) subservice_id;

Answer 5

A good way to import values once but avoid duplicates is as follows:

insert into schema.mytable (col1,col2) 
select col1, col2 from schema.mytable 
UNION
values 
('row1-col1','row1-col2'),
('row2-col1','row2-col2'),
('row3-col1','row3-col2')
except
select col1, col2 from schema.mytable;

Answer 6

A slightly related answer because I keep finding this question every time I try to remember this solution. Insert multiple rows with multiple columns:

insert into user_subservices (user_id, subservice_id)
select *
from unnest(array[1, 2], array[3, 4]);

Answer 7

A shorter version of krokodilko's answer:

insert into user_subservices(user_id, subservice_id) 
values(1, unnest(array[1, 2, 3]));