mysql update from another table

Recently I needed to update a bunch of rows in mysql with information from another table. I will explain how to do this simple process.

  1. Open up phpmyadmin or similar database editor
  2. view the sql query below
UPDATE updatefrom p, updateto pp 
SET pp.last_name = p.last_name 
WHERE pp.visid = p.id

Lets say we have 2 tables one named main and one named updateto and one named updatefrom, In the first line we assign variables to these t tables (p and pp) from there we can call column names using this format table.columname. If we had first_name and last_name in both tables and wanted to update the “updateto” table with the info from “updatefrom” this is how you would write it.