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.

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
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:

My SQL

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:

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

CREATE TABLE Persons (
    ID int NOT NULL,
    LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
    FirstName varchar(255),
    Age int,
    CONSTRAINT UC_Person UNIQUE (ID,LastName)
);

SQL 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).

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)
);

To allow naming of a PRIMARY KEY constraint, and for defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint

on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:
MySQL

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 only ONE PRIMARY KEY (PK_Person). However, the
VALUE of the primary key is made up of TWO COLUMNS (ID + LastName).

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

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD PRIMARY KEY (ID);

To allow naming of a PRIMARY KEY constraint, and for defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint

on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:

MySQL

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 to not contain NULL values (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 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.

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)
);

To allow naming of a FOREIGN KEY constraint, and for defining a FOREIGN KEY constraint on

multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:

MySQL

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

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

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 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)
);

To allow naming of a CHECK constraint, and for defining a CHECK constraint on multiple

columns, use the following SQL syntax:

MySQL

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='Kigali')
);

SQL CHECK on ALTER TABLE

To create a CHECK constraint on the "Age" column when the table is already created, use the
following SQL:

MySQL

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD 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

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT CHK_PersonAge CHECK (Age>=18 AND City='Kigali');
DROP a CHECK Constraint

To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CHECK CHK_PersonAge;

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

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()
);
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 'Kigali';

DROP a DEFAULT Constraint

To drop a DEFAULT constraint, use the following SQL:

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons
ALTER City DROP DEFAULT;