RE: Record by record update with SQL with no matching key.

So, how would I join the two records by rownumber? I think I have to
use a subquery since I'll need to alias the rownumber results but I
can't quite get my head around the syntax

The update would look like:
update realtable set firstname = firstfake, lastname = lastfake

the where would use the derived rownumber columns (say rn1,and rn2)

There are some rules about what can follow a WITH statement, and I don't
have the facility to test this concept, but here's my stab:

WITH T1 AS (
SELECT rownumber fakerow, firstname firstfake, lastname lastfake
FROM FAKETALE
)
, T2 as (
SELECT rownumber realrow, keyval realkey
From REALTABLE
)
UPDATE REALTABLE SET firsname = firstfake, lastname = lastfake
Where keyval = realkey and fakerow = realrow

Dennis Lovelady
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dennislovelady
--
"Democracy is the worst system devised by the wit of man, except for all the
others."
-- Winston Churchill