SQL Server - using the WITH clause in an INSERT statement

Question

I was wondering if this was possible. I have an existing query that uses the WITH clause to apply some aggregated data to a SELECT query like so: (massively simplified)

;WITH alias (y,z)
AS
(
    SELECT y,z FROM tableb
)
SELECT y, z FROM alias

I now want to INSERT the results of this query into another table.

I have tried the following:

INSERT INTO tablea(a,b)
;WITH alias (y,z)
AS
(
    SELECT y,z FROM tableb
)
SELECT y, z FROM alias

but I get the error:

Incorrect syntax near ';'.

So I have tried without the semicolon but got the error:

Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'WITH'.

Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'with'. If this statement is a common table expression or an xmlnamespaces clause, the previous statement must be terminated with a semicolon.

Is what I am trying to do possible with different some different syntax?

Answer 1

You will need to place the INSERT INTO right after the CTE. So the code will be:

;WITH alias (y,z)
AS
(
    SELECT y,z FROM tableb
)
INSERT INTO tablea(a,b)
SELECT y, z 
FROM alias

See SQL Fiddle with Demo

Answer 2

Another way without using a CTE is by wrapping it in a subquery,

INSERT INTO tablea(a,b)
SELECT y, z 
FROM 
(
    SELECT y,z FROM tableb
) alias

Answer 3

Semicolon is used to terminate the statement. So when you use ;WITH, terminates the previous statement. However, that's not why you are getting the error here. The problem here is with your INSERT INTO statement, which is looking for VALUES or SELECT syntax.

INSERT INTO statement can be used in 2 ways - by providing VALUES explicitly or by providing a result set using SELECT statement.