Check if value within column exists, if not create the column - shell

Question

I need to check if one of the columns in my db contains specific value. If it doesn't I want to create that row with folowing values:
#!/bin/bash
#
MODEL=$1
if true (SELECT * FROM table.STATISTICS
WHERE MODEL = '$MODEL' )
do this (INSERT INTO table.STATISTICS('$MODEL',0,SYSDATE,0,SYSDATE,0); )

Answer 1

You could use a merge for this, run through SQL*Plus as a 'heredoc', so you don't have to do a separate count operation; the merge will do that for you effectively:
#!/bin/bash
MODEL=$1
sqlplus -s /nolog <<!EOF
connect user/pass
merge into statistics s
using (select '${MODEL}' as model, 0 as num1, sysdate as date1,
0 as num2, sysdate as date2 from dual) t
on (s.model = t.model)
when not matched then
insert (s.model, s.num1, s.date1, s.num2, s.date2)
values (t.model, t.num1, t.date1, t.num2, t.date2);
!EOF
But using your real column names, obviously. It's better to list them explicitly even for a plain insert.

Answer 2

get_count () {
sqlplus -s username/pass <<!
set heading off
set feedback off
set pages 0
select count(model) from statistics
where model='$MODEL';
!
}
count=$(get_count $1)
if [ "${count:-0}" -eq 0 ]; then
echo "its zero"
sqlplus -S username/pass << EOF
whenever sqlerror exit 1;
set echo on
set verify off
INSERT INTO table.STATISTICS VALUES('$MODEL',0,SYSDATE,0,SYSDATE,0);
exit;
EOF
fi