Insert - Ignore Duplicate Entry Error

Question

Hello
I would like to use an insert statement which also contains a select statement in it and returns a set of records and gets inserted in to a particular table.
But, when I tried to run the sql, it throws error as some of the records are duplicate entry insertions. Is it possible to modify the sql to ignore any duplicate entries and insert the new ones.
Illustration:
TABLE_A
STUDENT_ID GROUP_ID
101 200
101 201
103 200
107 201
and so on.
Here, when I try to insert a set of records like
101 200
108 200
101 300
103 200
103 201
I would like the exact duplicate entries like (101,200), (103,200) to be ignored with out producing any error but insert the other records in to the TABLE_A table.
Thr sql used is similar to this
Insert into TABLE_A (student_id, group_id)
select distinct person.studentid, groups.groupid from person, groups where
Did any one know how to handle this?
Thanks
Shiv

Answer 1

If I include 'NOT EXISTS' after insert and before
select statement, it throws the error
missing VALUES keyword
The NOT EXISTS goes in the WHERE clause.
Insert into Table_A (student_id, group_id)
select distinct p.studentid, g.groupid
from person p, group g
where NOT EXISTS (select 1
                 from table_A a
                 where a.student_id = p.studentid
                 and a.group_id = g.groupid)or you could do
Insert into Table_A (student_id, group_id)
select distinct p.studentid, g.groupid
from person p, group g
MINUS
select student_id, group_id
from Table_A