MySQL: update a field only if condition is met

Is it possible to do an UPDATE query in MySQL which updates field value only if certain condition is met? Something like this:

UPDATE test
SET
    CASE
        WHEN true
        THEN field = 1
    END
WHERE id = 123

In other words:

UPDATE test
SET
    something = 1,        /*field that always gets updated*/
    CASE
        WHEN true
        THEN field = 1    /*field that should only get updated when condition is met*/
    END
WHERE id = 123

What is the proper way to do this?

Yes!

Here you have another example:

UPDATE prices
SET final_price= CASE
   WHEN currency=1 THEN 0.81*final_price
   ELSE final_price
END

This works because MySQL doesn't update the row, if there is no change, as mentioned in docs:

If you set a column to the value it currently has, MySQL notices this and does not update it.

Another solution which, in my opinion, is easier to read would be:

UPDATE test 
    SET something = 1, field = IF(condition is true, 1, field) 
    WHERE id = 123

What this does is set 'field' to 1 (like OP used as example) if the condition is met and use the current value of 'field' if not met. Using the previous value is the same as not changing, so there you go.

Try this:

UPDATE test
SET
   field = 1
WHERE id = 123 and condition

MySQL: update a field only if condition is met

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