SQL CONSTRAINTS
MR. ALDRINE SORIANO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SQL CONSTRAINTS
NOT NULL
UNIQUE
PRIMARY KEY
FOREIGN KEY
CHECK
DEFAULT
CREATE INDEX
SQL CREATE CONSTRAINTS
Constraints can be specified when the table is created with the CREATE TABLE
statement, or after the table is created with the ALTER TABLE statement.
SYNTAX
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 datatype constraint,
column2 datatype constraint,
column3 datatype constraint,
…
);
SQL CONSTRAINTS
SQL constraints are used to specify rules for the data in a table.
Constraints are used to limit the type of data that can go into a table. This
ensures the accuracy and reliability of the data in the table. If there is any
violation between the constraint and the data action, the action is aborted.
Constraints can be column level or table level.
Column level constraints apply to a column, and table level constraints apply to
the whole table.
DIFFERENT CONSTRAINTS COMMONLY USED IN SQL
The following constraints are commonly used in SQL:
NOT NULL – Ensures that a column cannot have a NULL value
UNIQUE – Ensures that all values in a column are different
PRIMARY KEY – A combination of a NOT NULL and UNIQUE. Uniquely identifies each
row in a table
FOREIGN KEY – Prevents actions that would destroy links between tables
CHECK – Ensures that the values in a column satisfies a specific condition
DEFAULT – Sets a default value for a column if no value is specified
CREATE INDEX – Used to create and retrieve data from the database very quickly
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:
EXAMPLE
INPUT
CREATE TABLE Persons (
OUTPUT
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:
EXAMPLE
OUTPUT
INPUT
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.
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:
EXAMPLE
INPUT
OUTPUT
SQL UNIQUE CONSTRAINT ON CREATE TABLE
To name a UNIQUE constraint, and to define a UNIQUE constraint on multiple
columns, use the following SQL syntax:
EXAMPLE
INPUT
OUTPUT
SQL UNIQUE CONSTRAINT ON ALTER TABLE
To create a UNIQUE constraint on the “ID” column when the table is already
created, use the following SQL:
EXAMPLE
INPUT
OUTPUT
SQL UNIQUE CONSTRAINT ON ALTER TABLE
To create a UNIQUE constraint on the “ID” column when the table is already
created, use the following SQL:
EXAMPLE
INPUT
OUTPUT
DROP A UNIQUE CONSTRAINT
To drop a UNIQUE constraint, use the following SQL:
EXAMPLE
INPUT
OUTPUT
