Someone has probably suggested this, but: select name, col1, col2 from T1 where name not in (select name from T2) union select name, col1, col2 from T2 The idea being: get everything from T1 that isn't in T2, and union that with everything in T2 (since they get priority). Depends if name is the primary key, of course. If there are multiple key columns, you an always do where (key1, key2, key3) not in (select key1, key2, key3 from T2). Efficacy may depend on SQL variant.
This is the most concise. Plus, I'm pretty sure this will work for every flavor of SQL out there. Code: select ISNULL(t1.name, t2.name) name, ISNULL(t2.value,t1.value) value from t1 full outer join t2 on t1.name = t2.name Below is a good learning example. It shows how the JOINs actually work. (I'm pretty sure this is what SQL server will turn the above into in its execution plan.) But I don't think I've ever used UNION in my life. lols Code: select ISNULL(t1.name, t2.name) name, ISNULL(t1.value,t2.value) value from t1 left join t2 on t1.name = t2.name where t2.name IS NULL union select ISNULL(t2.name, t1.name) name, ISNULL(t2.value,t1.value) value from t1 right join t2 on t1.name = t2.name where t1.name IS NULL OR t1.name = t2.name
I'm pretty sure this does not work when T2 has a unique record that T1 does not. Plus, it's Oracle only
