SQL Server SELECT into existing table

Question

I am trying to select some fields from one table and insert them into an existing table from a stored procedure. Here is what I am trying:

SELECT col1, col2 INTO dbo.TableTwo  FROM dbo.TableOne  WHERE col3 LIKE @search_key 

I think SELECT ... INTO ... is for temporary tables which is why I get an error that dbo.TableTwo already exists.

How can I insert multiple rows from dbo.TableOne into dbo.TableTwo?

Answer 1

SELECT ... INTO ... only works if the table specified in the INTO clause does not exist - otherwise, you have to use:

INSERT INTO dbo.TABLETWO SELECT col1, col2   FROM dbo.TABLEONE  WHERE col3 LIKE @search_key 

This assumes there's only two columns in dbo.TABLETWO - you need to specify the columns otherwise:

INSERT INTO dbo.TABLETWO   (col1, col2) SELECT col1, col2   FROM dbo.TABLEONE  WHERE col3 LIKE @search_key