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.
-- 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.
• Constrains can be named or unnamed
• Column level constraints apply to a column, and table level
constraints apply to the whole table.
The following constraints are commonly used in SQL:
1. NOT NULL - Ensures that a column cannot have a NULL value
2. UNIQUE - Ensures that all values in a column are different
3. PRIMARY KEY - A combination of a NOT NULL and UNIQUE.
Uniquely identifies each row in a table
4. FOREIGN KEY - Uniquely identifies a row/record in another
table
5. CHECK - Ensures that all values in a column satisfies a
specific condition
6. DEFAULT - Sets a default value for a column when no value is
specified
Not Null
1. By default, a column can hold NULL values.
2. The NOT NULL constraint enforces a column
to NOT accept NULL values.
3. 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.
UniQue
[Link] UNIQUE constraint ensures that all values in a column are different.
2. Both the UNIQUE and PRIMARY KEY constraints provide a guarantee for uniqueness for a
column or set of columns.
3. A PRIMARY KEY constraint automatically has a UNIQUE(and not null) constraint.
4. However, you can have many UNIQUE constraints per table, but only one PRIMARY KEY
constraint per table.
CREATE TABLE Persons
( ID int NOT NULL UNIQUE, what if not null was not specified?
LastName varchar(10) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(10),
Age int);
CREATE TABLE Persons ( ID int NOT NULL,
LastName varchar(10) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(10),
Age int,
CONSTRAINT UC_Person UNIQUE (ID,LastName) );
Alter table…add constraint
• To create a UNIQUE constraint on the “Firstname"
column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Persons ADD UNIQUE (Firstname);
To name a UNIQUE constraint, and to define a UNIQUE
constraint on multiple columns (column level constraint
cannot be used; table level constraint required)
ALTER TABLE Persons ADD CONSTRAINT UC_Person
UNIQUE (ID,LastName);
Alter table…drop
• To drop a constraint
ALTER TABLE Persons DROP CONSTRAINT
UC_Person
PRIMARY KEY Constraint
• The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each record
in a table.
• Primary keys must contain UNIQUE values, and cannot
contain NULL values.
• A table can have only ONE primary key; and in the table, this
primary key can consist of single or multiple columns (fields).
CREATE TABLE Persons ( ID int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(255),
Age int );
How will you define a primary key on multiple columns?
CREATE TABLE Persons ( ID int NOT NULL, LastName
varchar(10) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(10), Age int,
CONSTRAINT PK_Person PRIMARY KEY (ID,LastName) );
