insert

Insert or append records to a table

x insert y    insert[x;y]

Where

• x is a symbol atom naming a non-splayed table
• y is one or more records that match the columns of x; or if x is undefined, a table

inserts y into the table named by x and returns the new row indexes.

The left argument is the name of a table as a symbol atom.

q)show x:([a:`x`y];b:10 20)
a| b
-| --
x| 10
y| 20

q)`x insert (`z;30)
,2

q)x
a| b
-| --
x| 10
y| 20
z| 30

q)tnew
'tnew
  [0]  tnew
       ^
q)`tnew insert ([c1:`a`b];c2:10 20)
0 1
q)tnew
c1| c2
--| --
a | 10
b | 20

If the table is keyed, the new records must not match existing keys.

q)`x insert (`z;30)
'insert

Several records may be appended at once:

q)`x insert (`s`t;40 50)
3 4
q)x
a| b
-| --
x| 10
y| 20
z| 30
s| 40
t| 50

insert can insert to global variables only.

If you need to insert to function-local tables, use x,:y or Update instead.

Type

Values in y must match the type of corresponding columns in x; otherwise, q signals a type error.

Empty columns in x with general type assume types from the first record inserted.

q)meta u:([] name:(); age:())
c   | t f a
----| -----
name|
age |
q)`u insert (`tom`dick;30 40)
0 1
q)meta u
c   | t f a
----| -----
name| s
age | j

Foreign keys

If x has foreign key/s the corresponding values of y are checked to ensure they appear in the primary key column/s pointed to by the foreign key/s. A cast error is signalled if they do not.

Errors

cast     y value not in foreign key
insert   y key value defined in x
type     y value wrong type

With keyed tables, consider upsert as an alternative.

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