Update a table using JOIN in SQL Server?

I want to update a column in a table making a join on other table e.g.:

UPDATE table1 a 
INNER JOIN table2 b ON a.commonfield = b.[common field] 
SET a.CalculatedColumn= b.[Calculated Column]
WHERE 
	b.[common field]= a.commonfield
AND a.BatchNO = '110'

But it is complaining :

> Msg 170, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Line 2: Incorrect syntax near 'a'.

What is wrong here?

You don't quite have SQL Server's proprietary UPDATE FROM syntax down. Also not sure why you needed to join on the CommonField and also filter on it afterward. Try this:

UPDATE t1
  SET t1.CalculatedColumn = t2.[Calculated Column]
  FROM dbo.Table1 AS t1
  INNER JOIN dbo.Table2 AS t2
  ON t1.CommonField = t2.[Common Field]
  WHERE t1.BatchNo = '110';

If you're doing something silly - like constantly trying to set the value of one column to the aggregate of another column (which violates the principle of avoiding storing redundant data), you can use a CTE (common table expression) - see here and here for more details:

;WITH t2 AS
(
  SELECT [key], CalculatedColumn = SUM(some_column)
    FROM dbo.table2
    GROUP BY [key]
)
UPDATE t1
  SET t1.CalculatedColumn = t2.CalculatedColumn
  FROM dbo.table1 AS t1
  INNER JOIN t2
  ON t1.[key] = t2.[key];

The reason this is silly, is that you're going to have to re-run this entire update every single time any row in table2 changes. A SUM is something you can always calculate at runtime and, in doing so, never have to worry that the result is stale.

Try it like this:

    UPDATE a 
    SET a.CalculatedColumn= b.[Calculated Column]
    FROM table1 a INNER JOIN table2 b ON a.commonfield = b.[common field] 
    WHERE a.BatchNO = '110'

Answer given above by Aaron is perfect:

UPDATE a
  SET a.CalculatedColumn = b.[Calculated Column]
  FROM Table1 AS a
  INNER JOIN Table2 AS b
  ON a.CommonField = b.[Common Field]
  WHERE a.BatchNo = '110';

Just want to add why this problem occurs in SQL Server when we try to use alias of a table while updating that table, below mention syntax will always give error:

update tableName t 
set t.name = 'books new' 
where t.id = 1

case can be any if you are updating a single table or updating while using join.

Although above query will work fine in PL/SQL but not in SQL Server.

Correct way to update a table while using table alias in SQL Server is:

update t 
set t.name = 'books new' 
from tableName t 
where t.id = 1

Hope it will help everybody why error came here.

MERGE table1 T
   USING table2 S
      ON T.CommonField = S."Common Field"
         AND T.BatchNo = '110'
WHEN MATCHED THEN
   UPDATE
      SET CalculatedColumn = S."Calculated Column";

Seems like SQL Server 2012 can handle the old update syntax of Teradata too:

UPDATE a
SET a.CalculatedColumn= b.[Calculated Column]
FROM table1 a, table2 b 
WHERE 
    b.[common field]= a.commonfield
AND a.BatchNO = '110'

If I remember correctly, 2008R2 was giving error when I tried similar query.

    UPDATE mytable
         SET myfield = CASE other_field
             WHEN 1 THEN 'value'
             WHEN 2 THEN 'value'
             WHEN 3 THEN 'value'
         END
    From mytable
    Join otherTable on otherTable.id = mytable.id
    Where othertable.somecolumn = '1234'

More alternatives here.

I find it useful to turn an UPDATE into a SELECT to get the rows I want to update as a test before updating. If I can select the exact rows I want, I can update just those rows I want to update.

DECLARE @expense_report_id AS INT
SET @expense_report_id = 1027

--UPDATE expense_report_detail_distribution
--SET service_bill_id = 9

SELECT *
FROM expense_report_detail_distribution erdd
INNER JOIN expense_report_detail erd
INNER JOIN expense_report er 
	ON er.expense_report_id = erd.expense_report_id 
	ON erdd.expense_report_detail_id = erd.expense_report_detail_id
WHERE er.expense_report_id = @expense_report_id

Another approach would be to use MERGE

  ;WITH cteTable1(CalculatedColumn, CommonField)
  AS
  (
	select CalculatedColumn, CommonField from Table1 Where BatchNo = '110'
  )
  MERGE cteTable1 AS target
    USING (select "Calculated Column", "Common Field" FROM dbo.Table2) AS source ("Calculated Column", "Common Field")
    ON (target.CommonField = source."Common Field")
    WHEN MATCHED THEN 
        UPDATE SET target.CalculatedColumn = source."Calculated Column";

-Merge is part of the SQL Standard

-Also I'm pretty sure inner join updates are non deterministic.. Similar question here where the answer talks about that http://ask.sqlservercentral.com/questions/19089/updating-two-tables-using-single-query.html

I think, this is what you are looking for.

UPDATE
    Table1
SET
    Table1.columeName =T1.columeName * T2.columeName
FROM 
    Table1 T1
    INNER JOIN Table2 T2
        ON T1.columeName = T2.columeName;

I had the same issue.. and you don't need to add a physical column.. cuz now you will have to maintain it.. what you can do is add a generic column in the select query:

EX:

select tb1.col1, tb1.col2, tb1.col3 ,
( 
select 'Match' from table2 as tbl2
where tbl1.col1 = tbl2.col1 and tab1.col2 = tbl2.col2
)  
from myTable as tbl1

Aaron's approach above worked perfectly for me. My update statement was slightly different because I needed to join based on two fields concatenated in one table to match a field in another table.

 --update clients table cell field from custom table containing mobile numbers

update clients
set cell = m.Phone
from clients as c
inner join [dbo].[COSStaffMobileNumbers] as m 
on c.Last_Name + c.First_Name = m.Name

Those who are using MYSQL

UPDATE table1 INNER JOIN table2 ON table2.id = table1.id SET table1.status = 0 WHERE table1.column = 20

Try:

UPDATE table1
SET CalculatedColumn = ( SELECT [Calculated Column] 
                         FROM table2 
                         WHERE table1.commonfield = [common field])
WHERE  BatchNO = '110'