SQL Server Insert Without INTO

Question

This may be a really basic SQL question, but I have seen a SQL INSERT statement without the clause INTO and I was wondering if that is some special case in SQL Server 2000 or 2008.

The INSERT statement look something like

INSERT <table_name>
(
  column names
)
select *
from <another table>
where <condition>

Sorry, if this is super basic, but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks!

Answer 1

The INTO is optional. It is required in ANSI sql but the MS/Sybase developers decided to make it optional.

Answer 2

Check the BNF grammar http://savage.net.au/SQL/

92, 99, SQL:2003

<insert statement> ::= INSERT INTO <insertion target> <insert columns and source>

According to the ANSI spec, INTO should only be optional in a MERGE clause.

For SQL Server (this link from 2000 to show how old it is - it exists from the first version of SQL Server), it is optional. It is also optional for MySQL.

INSERT [ INTO]
    { table_name WITH ( < table_hint_limited > [ ...n ] )
        | view_name
        | rowset_function_limited
    }

    {    [ ( column_list ) ]
        { VALUES
            ( { DEFAULT | NULL | expression } [ ,...n] )
            | derived_table
            | execute_statement
        }
    }
    | DEFAULT VALUES