SQL Basic
SQL HOME SQL Intro SQL Syntax SQL SELECT SQL SELECT DISTINCT SQL WHERE SQL AND & OR SQL ORDER BY SQL INSERT INTO SQL UPDATE SQL DELETESQL Advanced
SQL SELECT TOP SQL LIKE SQL Wildcards SQL IN SQL BETWEEN SQL Aliases SQL Joins SQL INNER JOIN SQL LEFT JOIN SQL RIGHT JOIN SQL FULL JOIN SQL UNION SQL SELECT INTO SQL CREATE DB SQL CREATE TABLE SQL Constraints SQL NOT NULL SQL UNIQUE SQL PRIMARY KEY SQL FOREIGN KEY SQL CHECK SQL DEFAULT SQL CREATE INDEX SQL DROP SQL ALTER SQL Auto Increment SQL Views SQL Dates SQL NULL Values SQL NULL Functions SQL Data TypesSQL Functions
SQL Functions SQL AVG() SQL COUNT() SQL FIRST() SQL LAST() SQL MAX() SQL MIN() SQL SUM() SQL GROUP BY SQL HAVING SQL UCASE() SQL LCASE() SQL MID() SQL LEN() SQL ROUND() SQL NOW() SQL FORMAT()SQL Quick Ref SQL Hosting SQL Summary
SQL Quiz
SQL QuizSQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint
A FOREIGN KEY in one table points to a PRIMARY KEY in another table.
Let's illustrate the foreign key with an example. Look at the following two tables:
The "Persons" table:
| P_Id | LastName | FirstName | Address | City |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hansen | Ola | Timoteivn 10 | Sandnes |
| 2 | Svendson | Tove | Borgvn 23 | Sandnes |
| 3 | Pettersen | Kari | Storgt 20 | Stavanger |
The "Orders" table:
| O_Id | OrderNo | P_Id |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 77895 | 3 |
| 2 | 44678 | 3 |
| 3 | 22456 | 2 |
| 4 | 24562 | 1 |
Note that the "P_Id" column in the "Orders" table points to the "P_Id" column in the "Persons" table.
The "P_Id" column in the "Persons" table is the PRIMARY KEY in the "Persons" table.
The "P_Id" column in the "Orders" table is a FOREIGN KEY in the "Orders" table.
The FOREIGN KEY constraint is used to prevent actions that would destroy links between tables.
The FOREIGN KEY constraint also prevents invalid data from being inserted into the foreign key column, because it has to be one of the values contained in the table it points to.
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a FOREIGN KEY on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is created:
MySQL:
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,
PRIMARY KEY (O_Id),
FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,
PRIMARY KEY (O_Id),
FOREIGN KEY (P_Id) REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
O_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
(
O_Id int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
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
(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,
PRIMARY KEY (O_Id),
CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
(
O_Id int NOT NULL,
OrderNo int NOT NULL,
P_Id int,
PRIMARY KEY (O_Id),
CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
)
SQL FOREIGN KEY Constraint on ALTER TABLE
To create a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "P_Id" column when the "Orders" table is already created, use the following SQL:
MySQL / SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
ADD FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
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_PerOrders
FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
ADD CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
FOREIGN KEY (P_Id)
REFERENCES Persons(P_Id)
To DROP a FOREIGN KEY Constraint
To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
MySQL:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_PerOrders
DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_PerOrders
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
DROP CONSTRAINT fk_PerOrders
W3Schools' Online Certification
The perfect solution for professionals who need to balance work, family, and career building.
More than 10 000 certificates already issued!
The HTML Certificate documents your knowledge of HTML.
The HTML5 Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced HTML5.
The CSS Certificate documents your knowledge of advanced CSS.
The JavaScript Certificate documents your knowledge of JavaScript and HTML DOM.
The jQuery Certificate documents your knowledge of jQuery.
The XML Certificate documents your knowledge of XML, XML DOM and XSLT.
The ASP Certificate documents your knowledge of ASP, SQL, and ADO.
The PHP Certificate documents your knowledge of PHP and SQL (MySQL).
Your suggestion:
Close [X]
Thank You For Helping Us!
Your message has been sent to W3Schools.
Close [X]
