---
title: "General Syntax of INSERT"
url: https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/cloud-scale/help/zcql/insert/
description: "ZCQL is Catalyst's own query language modelled after familiar query languages that you can use to query your app's database efficiently."
last_updated: 2023-08-28T12:42:09Z
service: Cloud Scale
type: general
---

# INSERT

### General Syntax of INSERT

You can insert a record in a table by passing the values for each column of that table for that record.

The general syntax of a basic ZCQL data insertion operation is as follows:

```sql
INSERT INTO {BASE_TABLE_NAME} VALUES (VALUE1, VALUE2,..)
```

You must pass the values in the same order as the columns are present in the table.

> **Note:**

* Ensure that you provide the right value for a column that matches the column's data type.
* For columns where the _IsUnique_ constraint is enabled, ensure that you don't enter values that are already present in other records. Similarly, for the columns where the _IsMandatory_ validator is enabled, ensure that you do not leave the data value blank.
* For a column where the data type is a **Foreign Key**, you must provide the ROWID of the parent table's record which it refers, as its value.

**Example:**

To insert a record in the _Movies_ table, execute the following query:

```sql
INSERT INTO Movies VALUES (2060,'Mission: Impossible – Fallout', '2018-7-27',
'16:00:00', 053)
```

> **Note:** If the values to be inserted are **String values**, you must pass the values enclosed in single quotations as shown above. 

### Partial Insert

You can also pass values only for specific columns in a table by specifying the column names which the values need to be inserted for. The syntax for a partial insert is as follows:

```sql
INSERT INTO {BASE_TABLE_NAME} (COLUMN_NAME1, COLUMN_NAME2,..) VALUES (VALUE1, VALUE2,..)
```

To insert a record and pass values for the _MovieID_ and _TheaterID_ columns alone in the _Movies_ table, execute the following query:

```sql
INSERT INTO Movies (MovieID, TheaterID) VALUES (2061, 052)
```