NOT NULL:
SQL NOT NULL Constraint
By default, a column can hold NULL values.
The NOT NULL constraint enforces a column to NOT accept NULL values.
This enforces a field to always contain a value, which means that you cannot
insert a new record, or update a record without adding a value to this field.
SQL NOT NULL on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL ensures that the "ID", "LastName", and "FirstName"
columns will NOT accept NULL values when the "Persons" table is created:
ExampleGet your own SQL Server
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
Age int
);
SQL NOT NULL on ALTER TABLE
To create a NOT NULL constraint on the "Age" column when the "Persons"
table is already created, use the following SQL:
SQL Server / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN Age int NOT NULL;
My SQL / Oracle (prior version 10G):
ALTER TABLE Persons
MODIFY COLUMN Age int NOT NULL;
SQL UNIQUE Constraint
The UNIQUE constraint ensures that all values in a column are different.
Both the UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY constraints provide a guarantee for
uniqueness for a column or set of columns.
A PRIMARY KEY constraint automatically has a UNIQUE constraint.
However, you can have many UNIQUE constraints per table, but only
one PRIMARY KEY constraint per table.
SQL UNIQUE Constraint on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a UNIQUE constraint on the "ID" column when the
"Persons" table is created:
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL UNIQUE,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int
);
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
UNIQUE (ID)
);
To name a UNIQUE constraint, and to define a UNIQUE constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
CONSTRAINT UC_Person UNIQUE (ID,LastName)
);
SQL CHECK Constraint
The CHECK constraint is used to limit the value range that can be placed in a
column.
If you define a CHECK constraint on a column it will allow only certain values
for this column.
If you define a CHECK constraint on a table it can limit the values in certain
columns based on values in other columns in the row.
SQL CHECK on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a CHECK constraint on the "Age" column when the
"Persons" table is created. The CHECK constraint ensures that the age of a
person must be 18, or older:
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
CHECK (Age>=18)
);
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int CHECK (Age>=18)
);
To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint
on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
City varchar(255),
CONSTRAINT CHK_Person CHECK (Age>=18 AND City='Sandnes')
);
SQL DEFAULT Constraint
The DEFAULT constraint is used to set a default value for a column.
The default value will be added to all new records, if no other value is
specified.
SQL DEFAULT on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL sets a DEFAULT value for the "City" column when the
"Persons" table is created:
My SQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
City varchar(255) DEFAULT 'Sandnes'
);
The DEFAULT constraint can also be used to insert system values, by using
functions like GETDATE():
CREATE TABLE Orders (
ID int NOT NULL,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
OrderDate date DEFAULT GETDATE()
);
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SQL DEFAULT on ALTER TABLE
To create a DEFAULT constraint on the "City" column when the table is
already created, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER City SET DEFAULT 'Sandnes';
SQL Server:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT df_City
DEFAULT 'Sandnes' FOR City;
MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City SET DEFAULT 'Sandnes';
Oracle:
ALTER TABLE Persons
MODIFY City DEFAULT 'Sandnes';
DROP a DEFAULT Constraint
To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER City DROP DEFAULT;
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER COLUMN City DROP DEFAULT;
SQL PRIMARY KEY Constraint
The PRIMARY KEY constraint is used to uniquely identify each record in a
table.
Primary keys must contain unique values, and cannot contain NULL values.
Each table can have only ONE primary key. The primary key can be a single
column or a combination of columns.
SQL PRIMARY KEY on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a PRIMARY KEY on the "ID" column when the
"Persons" table is created:
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int
);
To define a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following
SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Persons (
ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int,
CONSTRAINT PK_Person PRIMARY KEY (ID,LastName)
);
Note: In the example above there is one PRIMARY KEY (PK_Person).
However, the value of the primary key is made up of two columns (ID +
LastName).
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SQL PRIMARY KEY on ALTER TABLE
To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "ID" column when the table is
already created, use the following SQL:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD PRIMARY KEY (ID);
To define a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following
SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT PK_Person PRIMARY KEY (ID,LastName);
Note: If you use ALTER TABLE to add a primary key, the primary key
column(s) must have been declared with NOT NULL, when the table was first
created.
DROP a PRIMARY KEY Constraint
To drop a PRIMARY KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP PRIMARY KEY;
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT PK_Person;
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint
The FOREIGN KEY constraint is used to prevent actions that would destroy
links between tables.
A FOREIGN KEY is a field (or collection of fields) in one table, that refers to
the PRIMARY KEY in another table.
The table with the foreign key is called the child table, and the table with the
primary key is called the referenced or parent table.
Look at the following two tables:
Persons Table
PersonID LastName FirstName Age
1 Hansen Ola 30
2 Svendson Tove 23
3 Pettersen Kari 20
Orders Table
OrderID OrderNumber PersonID
1 77895 3
2 44678 3
3 22456 2
4 24562 1
Notice that the "PersonID" column in the "Orders" table points to the
"PersonID" column in the "Persons" table.
The "PersonID" column in the "Persons" table is the PRIMARY KEY in the
"Persons" table.
The "PersonID" column in the "Orders" table is a FOREIGN KEY in the
"Orders" table.
The FOREIGN KEY constraint prevents invalid data from being inserted into
the foreign key column, because it has to be one of the values contained in
the parent table.
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SQL FOREIGN KEY on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a FOREIGN KEY on the "PersonID" column when
the "Orders" table is created:
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Orders (
OrderID int NOT NULL,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
PersonID int,
PRIMARY KEY (OrderID),
FOREIGN KEY (PersonID) REFERENCES Persons(PersonID)
);
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Orders (
OrderID int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
PersonID int FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Persons(PersonID)
);
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN
KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Orders (
OrderID int NOT NULL,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
PersonID int,
PRIMARY KEY (OrderID),
CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder FOREIGN KEY (PersonID)
REFERENCES Persons(PersonID)
);
SQL FOREIGN KEY on ALTER TABLE
To create a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "PersonID" column when the
"Orders" table is already created, use the following SQL:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD FOREIGN KEY (PersonID) REFERENCES Persons(PersonID);
To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN
KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder
FOREIGN KEY (PersonID) REFERENCES Persons(PersonID);
DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint
To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP FOREIGN KEY FK_PersonOrder;
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder;
