SQL Interview: #6: Multi-row INSERT operations

This is a post in the SQL Interview series. These aren't trick or gotcha questions, they're just questions designed to scope out a candidate's knowledge around SQL Server and Azure SQL Database.

Section: Development
Level: Intro

Question:

Look at the following multi-row INSERT statement:

INSERT Sales.CustomerGroups
(
    CustomerGroupID, CustomerGroupName
)
VALUES (1, 'Group A'),
       (2, NULL),
       (3, 'Group C');

INSERT Sales.CustomerGroups

(

CustomerGroupID, CustomerGroupName

)

VALUES (1, 'Group A'),

(2, NULL),

(3, 'Group C');

The column CustomerGroupName is defined as NOT NULL so the second row cannot be inserted.

How many rows are inserted by this statement, assuming there are no other errors?

Answer:

INSERT statements are atomic, even for multi-row INSERT statements. Either all the rows are inserted, or none are.

If one row fails (as in this case), no rows are inserted.

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