Syntax:
ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME}
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL}
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES
Example:
ALTER TABLE SomeTable
ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.
Notes:
Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6
Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES or not.
How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable and do not Specify SomeCol's value, then it will Default to 0.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol's value as NULL (and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL will be inserted as the Value.
Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.
Assuming three columns in the table: ID, NAME, ROLE
BAD: This will insert or replace all columns with new values for ID=1:
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Employee (id, name, role)
VALUES (1, 'John Foo', 'CEO');
BAD: This will insert or replace 2 of the columns... the NAME column will be set to NULL or the default value:
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Employee (id, role)
VALUES (1, 'code monkey');
GOOD: Use SQLite On conflict clause
UPSERT support in SQLite! UPSERT syntax was added to SQLite with version 3.24.0!
UPSERT is a special syntax addition to INSERT that causes the INSERT to behave as an UPDATE or a no-op if the INSERT would violate a uniqueness constraint. UPSERT is not standard SQL. UPSERT in SQLite follows the syntax established by PostgreSQL.
GOOD but tedious: This will update 2 of the columns.
When ID=1 exists, the NAME will be unaffected.
When ID=1 does not exist, the name will be the default (NULL).
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Employee (id, role, name)
VALUES ( 1,
'code monkey',
(SELECT name FROM Employee WHERE id = 1)
);
This will update 2 of the columns.
When ID=1 exists, the ROLE will be unaffected.
When ID=1 does not exist, the role will be set to 'Benchwarmer' instead of the default value.
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO Employee (id, name, role)
VALUES ( 1,
'Susan Bar',
COALESCE((SELECT role FROM Employee WHERE id = 1), 'Benchwarmer')
);
Best Solution
If you think about it, the auto-increment number should not be transactional. If other transactions had to wait to see if the auto-number was going to be used or "rolled back", they would be blocked by the existing transaction using the auto-number. For example, consider my psuedo code below with table A using an auto-number field for the ID column:
If user 2's transaction starts a millisecond after user 1's, then their insert into table A would have to wait for user 1's entire transaction to complete just to see if the auto-number from the first insert into A was used.
This is a feature, not a bug. I would recommend using another scheme to generate auto-numbers if you need them to be tightly sequential.