So to continue the question.
Thanks for the reply Colby, you were accurate enough in your guess at what I was trying to accomplish. I should first clarify that my naming scheme of table12 has nothing to do with a database table, that is a production table at our factory, just to clarify before any confusion occurs.
[color=#000080]
-What I am doing-
3 tables involved...
[ul]db1.table12 = parts currently being produced, 96 total stations
db1.table12_check = results from material approval checks
fw_db.mat_list = approved material listing[/ul]
I am taking the "style" for each of the 96 stations and running a check to see if the style & material combination in fw_db.mat_list returns a value or is Null. I store that result in db1.table12_check for use later. Like I said earlier, your assumption was close enough that your code is right for my application.[/color]
This statement worked perfect..
Inserting that into the update statement almost worked. I had to remove the alias "c" from db1.table12_check to make it work. MySql was giving me an error of
"unknown column 'db1.table12_check.mat_list' in 'field list.'"
Your suggestion..
working command..
[quote]
UPDATE db1.table12_check SET db1.table12_check.mat_chk=(SELECT count(*)=0 or IsNull(a.material) FROM db1.table12 a, fw_db.mat_list b WHERE a.station=db1.table12_check.station and b.style=a.style)[/quote]