Don't update column if update value is null

Question

I have a query like this (in a function):

UPDATE some_table SET
  column_1 = param_1,
  column_2 = param_2,
  column_3 = param_3,
  column_4 = param_4,
  column_5 = param_5
WHERE id = some_id;

Where param_x is a parameter of my function. Is there a way to NOT update those columns, for which the param is NULL? For example - if param_4 and param_5 are NULL, then update only the first three columns and leave old values for column_4 and column_5.

The way I am doing it now is:

SELECT * INTO temp_row FROM some_table WHERE id = some_id;

UPDATE some_table SET
  column_1 = COALESCE(param_1, temp_row.column_1),
  column_2 = COALESCE(param_2, temp_row.column_2),
  column_3 = COALESCE(param_3, temp_row.column_3),
  column_4 = COALESCE(param_4, temp_row.column_4),
  column_5 = COALESCE(param_5, temp_row.column_5)
WHERE id = some_id;

Is there a better way?

Solution 1

Drop the SELECT statement, there is no need for, just use the current value:

UPDATE some_table SET
  column_1 = COALESCE(param_1, column_1),
  column_2 = COALESCE(param_2, column_2),
  column_3 = COALESCE(param_3, column_3),
  column_4 = COALESCE(param_4, column_4),
  column_5 = COALESCE(param_5, column_5)
WHERE id = some_id;

Solution 2

Neat trick, thanks Przemek, Frank & Erwin!

I suggest a minor edit to Erwin's answer to avoid empty updates. If any parameters were null (meaning: "use the old value"), the row was updated each time even though the row values did not change (after the first update).

By adding "param_x IS NOT NULL", we avoid empty updates:

UPDATE some_table SET
    column_1 = COALESCE(param_1, column_1),
    column_2 = COALESCE(param_2, column_2),
    ...
WHERE id = some_id
AND  (param_1 IS NOT NULL AND param_1 IS DISTINCT FROM column_1 OR
      param_2 IS NOT NULL AND param_2 IS DISTINCT FROM column_2 OR
     ...
 );

Solution 3

Additionally, to avoid empty updates:

UPDATE some_table SET
  column_1 = COALESCE(param_1, column_1),
  column_2 = COALESCE(param_2, column_2)
  ...
WHERE id = some_id;
AND  (param_1 IS DISTINCT FROM column_1 OR
      param_2 IS DISTINCT FROM column_2 OR
      ...
     );

This assumes target columns to be defined NOT NULL. Else, see Geir's extended version.

Comments

[Erwin Brandstetter]

Right, that's even better. If all involved columns are defined NOT NULL, then my version already covers NULL in the parameters, though. Not unlikely for a case, where the OP disallows new NULL values in the UPDATE.