my $sth = $dbh->prepare(" UPDATE many_address SET name=NULL, date_loaded=NULL WHERE name=? AND number=? AND street=? "); while () { my ($name,$add,$street) = split(/\|/,$_); chomp($street); $sth->execute($name,$add,$street); } #### $rows_affected = $dbh->do("UPDATE your_table SET foo = foo + 1"); #### ... while () { my ($name,$add,$street) = split(/\|/,$_); chomp($street); my $ret = $sth->execute($name,$add,$street); print "no update for $name\n" if $ret == 0; }