Bug #2307 INSERT SELECLECT documentation
Submitted: 7 Jan 2004 7:47 Modified: 7 Feb 2004 7:54
Reporter: Will Read Email Updates:
Status: No Feedback Impact on me:
None 
Category:MySQL Websites: MySQL.com Severity:S3 (Non-critical)
Version:4.0 OS:Microsoft Windows (Windows 2000)
Assigned to: Assigned Account CPU Architecture:Any

[7 Jan 2004 7:47] Will Read 
Description:
Website documentation does not agree with actual behavior of MySQL server

How to repeat:
I was working with a coworker to diagnose a query that was returning an error number 1136. He was given the syntax on the site 

INSERT [LOW_PRIORITY] [IGNORE] [INTO] tbl_name [(column list)] SELECT... 

which seems to indicate that the column list is optional. However our error went away once we specified the column list. 

Suggested fix:
Do not show the column list as optional in the syntax
[7 Jan 2004 7:53] Dean Ellis 
The column list is optional provided you select enough values for all columns, just as with a normal INSERT.
[7 Jan 2004 7:54] Paul Dubois 
Please show the statement that failed and the error
message you received, and show the statement that
succeeded.

The column list is optional, but the statement will
certainly fail if the number of columns in the table
is not the same as the number of columns produced
by the SELECT.
[14 Feb 2005 22:54] Bugs System 
No feedback was provided for this bug for over a month, so it is
being suspended automatically. If you are able to provide the
information that was originally requested, please do so and change
the status of the bug back to "Open".