alter table books add language int not null default 0; drop table if exists reading_is_fundamental; create table reading_is_fundamental ( filename varchar(32), language int ); insert into reading_is_fundamental (select items.filename, items.booktype from items where items.filename != "" group by filename); update books set books.language = (select language from reading_is_fundamental r where r.filename = books.name); drop table reading_is_fundamental;