Search code examples
javamysqljdbcprepared-statementbatch-insert

Java: Insert multiple rows into MySQL with PreparedStatement


I want to insert multiple rows into a MySQL table at once using Java. The number of rows is dynamic. In the past I was doing...

for (String element : array) {
    myStatement.setString(1, element[0]);
    myStatement.setString(2, element[1]);

    myStatement.executeUpdate();
}

I'd like to optimize this to use the MySQL-supported syntax:

INSERT INTO table (col1, col2) VALUES ('val1', 'val2'), ('val1', 'val2')[, ...]

but with a PreparedStatement I don't know of any way to do this since I don't know beforehand how many elements array will contain. If it's not possible with a PreparedStatement, how else can I do it (and still escape the values in the array)?


Solution

  • You can create a batch by PreparedStatement#addBatch() and execute it by PreparedStatement#executeBatch().

    Here's a kickoff example:

    public void save(List<Entity> entities) throws SQLException {
        try (
            Connection connection = database.getConnection();
            PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement(SQL_INSERT);
        ) {
            int i = 0;
    
            for (Entity entity : entities) {
                statement.setString(1, entity.getSomeProperty());
                // ...
    
                statement.addBatch();
                i++;
    
                if (i % 1000 == 0 || i == entities.size()) {
                    statement.executeBatch(); // Execute every 1000 items.
                }
            }
        }
    }
    

    It's executed every 1000 items because some JDBC drivers and/or DBs may have a limitation on batch length.

    See also: