How to do an update + join in PostgreSQL?

The UPDATE syntax is:

[ WITH [ RECURSIVE ] with_query [, ...] ]
UPDATE [ ONLY ] table [ [ AS ] alias ]
    SET { column = { expression | DEFAULT } |
          ( column [, ...] ) = ( { expression | DEFAULT } [, ...] ) } [, ...]
    [ FROM from_list ]
    [ WHERE condition | WHERE CURRENT OF cursor_name ]
    [ RETURNING * | output_expression [ [ AS ] output_name ] [, ...] ]

In your case I think you want this:

UPDATE vehicles_vehicle AS v 
SET price = s.price_per_vehicle
FROM shipments_shipment AS s
WHERE v.shipment_id = s.id 

The answer of Mark Byers is the optimal in this situation. Though in more complex situations you can take the select query that returns rowids and calculated values and attach it to the update query like this:

with t as (
  -- Any generic query which returns rowid and corresponding calculated values
  select t1.id as rowid, f(t2, t2) as calculatedvalue
  from table1 as t1
  join table2 as t2 on t2.referenceid = t1.id
)
update table1
set value = t.calculatedvalue
from t
where id = t.rowid

This approach lets you develop and test your select query and in two steps convert it to the update query.

So in your case the result query will be:

with t as (
    select v.id as rowid, s.price_per_vehicle as calculatedvalue
    from vehicles_vehicle v 
    join shipments_shipment s on v.shipment_id = s.id 
)
update vehicles_vehicle
set price = t.calculatedvalue
from t
where id = t.rowid

Note that column aliases are mandatory otherwise PostgreSQL will complain about the ambiguity of the column names.

Let me explain a little more by my example.

Task: correct info, where abiturients (students about to leave secondary school) have submitted applications to university earlier, than they got school certificates (yes, they got certificates earlier, than they were issued (by certificate date specified). So, we will increase application submit date to fit certificate issue date.

Thus. next MySQL-like statement:

UPDATE applications a
JOIN (
    SELECT ap.id, ab.certificate_issued_at
    FROM abiturients ab
    JOIN applications ap 
    ON ab.id = ap.abiturient_id 
    WHERE ap.documents_taken_at::date < ab.certificate_issued_at
) b
ON a.id = b.id
SET a.documents_taken_at = b.certificate_issued_at;

Becomes PostgreSQL-like in such a way

UPDATE applications a
SET documents_taken_at = b.certificate_issued_at         -- we can reference joined table here
FROM abiturients b                                       -- joined table
WHERE 
    a.abiturient_id = b.id AND                           -- JOIN ON clause
    a.documents_taken_at::date < b.certificate_issued_at -- Subquery WHERE

As you can see, original subquery JOIN's ON clause have become one of WHERE conditions, which is conjucted by AND with others, which have been moved from subquery with no changes. And there is no more need to JOIN table with itself (as it was in subquery).

For those actually wanting to do a JOIN you can also use:

UPDATE a
SET price = b_alias.unit_price
FROM      a AS a_alias
LEFT JOIN b AS b_alias ON a_alias.b_fk = b_alias.id
WHERE a_alias.unit_name LIKE 'some_value' 
AND a.id = a_alias.id;

You can use the a_alias in the SET section on the right of the equals sign if needed. The fields on the left of the equals sign don't require a table reference as they are deemed to be from the original "a" table.

For those wanting to do a JOIN that updates ONLY the rows your join returns use:

UPDATE a
SET price = b_alias.unit_price
FROM      a AS a_alias
LEFT JOIN b AS b_alias ON a_alias.b_fk = b_alias.id
WHERE a_alias.unit_name LIKE 'some_value' 
AND a.id = a_alias.id
--the below line is critical for updating ONLY joined rows
AND a.pk_id = a_alias.pk_id;

This was mentioned above but only through a comment..Since it's critical to getting the correct result posting NEW answer that Works

Here we go:

update vehicles_vehicle v
set price=s.price_per_vehicle
from shipments_shipment s
where v.shipment_id=s.id;

Simple as I could make it. Thanks guys!

Can also do this:

-- Doesn't work apparently
update vehicles_vehicle 
set price=s.price_per_vehicle
from vehicles_vehicle v
join shipments_shipment s on v.shipment_id=s.id;

But then you've got the vehicle table in there twice, and you're only allowed to alias it once, and you can't use the alias in the "set" portion.

To add something quite important to all the great answers above, when you want to update a join-table, you may have 2 problems:

you cannot use the table you want to update to JOIN another one

Postgres wants a ON clause after the JOIN so you cannot only use where clauses.

This means that basically, the following queries are not valid:

UPDATE join_a_b
SET count = 10
FROM a
JOIN b on b.id = join_a_b.b_id -- Not valid since join_a_b is used here
WHERE a.id = join_a_b.a_id
AND a.name = 'A'
AND b.name = 'B'

UPDATE join_a_b
SET count = 10
FROM a
JOIN b -- Not valid since there is no ON clause
WHERE a.id = join_a_b.a_id 
AND b.id = join_a_b.b_id
a.name = 'A'
AND b.name = 'B'

Instead, you must use all the tables in the FROM clause like this:

UPDATE join_a_b
SET count = 10
FROM a, b
WHERE a.id = join_a_b.a_id 
AND b.id = join_a_b.b_id 
AND a.name = 'A'
AND b.name = 'B'

It might be straightforward for some but I got stuck on this problem wondering what's going on so hopefully, it will help others.

Here's a simple SQL that updates Mid_Name on the Name3 table using the Middle_Name field from Name:

update name3
set mid_name = name.middle_name
from name
where name3.person_id = name.person_id;

The link below has a example that resolve and helps understant better how use update and join with postgres.

UPDATE product
SET net_price = price - price * discount
FROM
product_segment
WHERE
product.segment_id = product_segment.id;

See: http://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-update-join/

First Table Name: tbl_table1 (tab1). Second Table Name: tbl_table2 (tab2).

Set the tbl_table1's ac_status column to "INACTIVE"

update common.tbl_table1 as tab1
set ac_status= 'INACTIVE' --tbl_table1's "ac_status"
from common.tbl_table2 as tab2
where tab1.ref_id= '1111111' 
and tab2.rel_type= 'CUSTOMER';