Inserting multiple data into database

Question

I am learning to use SQL Server 2008 R2, and I'm a little stuck at the INSERT option. I want to insert multiple data at once and I'm using this :

INSERT INTO Members (column1, column2, column3, column4, column5)

VALUES ('value1', 'value2', 'value3', 'value4', 'value5'),

       ('value1', 'value2', 'value3', 'value4', 'value5'),

       ('value1', 'value2', 'value3', 'value4', 'value5')

which ofc works. But let's say I have like a 1000 records that I want to insert (from another file, for e.g. Excel), how can I do that ? Any reference to where I can learn this ?

Answer 1

Use SELECT statement to insert multiple data like:

INSERT INTO Members (column1, column2, column3, column4, column5)
SELECT 'value1', 'value2', 'value3', 'value4', 'value5'
UNION
SELECT 'value1', 'value2', 'value3', 'value4', 'value5'
UNION
SELECT 'value1', 'value2', 'value3', 'value4', 'value5'

or

INSERT INTO Members (column1, column2, column3, column4, column5)
SELECT Column1, Column2, Column3, Column4, Column5 FROM Table1