A simplified version of the UPDATE syntax is:

UPDATE table-name 
SET column_name = expression 
WHERE search-condition

If the company Newton Ent. (in the Customers table of the SQL Anywhere sample database) is taken over by Einstein, Inc., you can update the name of the company using a statement such as the following:

UPDATE Customers
SET CompanyName = 'Einstein, Inc.'
WHERE CompanyName = 'Newton Ent.';

You can use any expression in the WHERE clause. If you are not sure how the company name was spelled, you could try updating any company called Newton, with a statement such as the following:

UPDATE Customers
SET CompanyName = 'Einstein, Inc.'
WHERE CompanyName LIKE 'Newton%';

The search condition need not refer to the column being updated. The company ID for Newton Entertainments is 109. As the ID value is the primary key for the table, you could be sure of updating the correct row using the following statement:

UPDATE Customers
SET CompanyName = 'Einstein, Inc.'
WHERE ID = 109;

The SET clause specifies the columns to be updated, and their new values. The WHERE clause determines the row or rows to be updated. If you do not have a WHERE clause, the specified columns of all rows are updated with the values given in the SET clause.

You can provide any expression of the correct data type in the SET clause.

The WHERE clause specifies the rows to be updated. For example, the following statement replaces the One Size Fits All Tee Shirt with an Extra Large Tee Shirt

UPDATE Products
SET Size  = 'Extra Large'
WHERE Name = 'Tee Shirt'
   AND Size = 'One Size Fits All';

You can use a FROM clause to pull data from one or more tables into the table you are updating.