I'm having problems adding a foreign key to an existing table where the foreign key can be null.
Say I have a user table and a data table. The data table already has a working foreign key on the "createdBy" colum to the user table ID column. I've just added a second column to the data table "EditedBy" that allows for null values (meaning the data record hasn't been edited). So all the existing records have NULL as the value for this column.
I am trying to make a foreign key between Data.EditedBy and User.Id, but when I try to apply it, I get the following error.
The ALTER TABLE statement conflicted with the FOREIGN KEY constraint "FK_Data_User_EditedBy". The conflict occurred in database "Test", table "dbo.User", column 'Id'.
It seems like its having a problem with the NULL values in the data table, but NULL is an acceptable value for a foreign key.
What am I missing?
UPDATE:
Full statement is as follows
USE [Test]
GO
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Data] WITH CHECK ADD CONSTRAINT [FK_Data_User_EditedBy] FOREIGN KEY([Id])
REFERENCES [dbo].[User] ([Id])
GO
Ok, I feel like an idiot. I was using Management studio to create the relationship, and after I posted the equivalent alter statement (which didn't work either), I realized I was trying to make a foreign key between the ID field of [data] and the ID field of [user].
Obviously that wont work.
I fixed the statement to use the correct field in the [data] table and all is well.
I'll post only the main part. I have two tables, each one has to have the PK of the other as a FK.
CREATE TABLE apartment
(
cod_apartment INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
cod_offer INT NOT NULL
);
CREATE TABLE offer
(
cod_offer INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
cod_apartment INT NOT NULL
);
First I inserted the values on both tables and it was working, I could even search using "select * from...". But then I tried to add the foreign key:
This worked.
ALTER TABLE offer
ADD FOREIGN KEY (cod_apartment ) REFERENCES apartment;
And this not.
ALTER TABLE apartment
ADD FOREIGN KEY (cod_offer) REFERENCES offer;
This is the error message:
The ALTER TABLE statement conflicted with the FOREIGN KEY constraint "FK__apartment__cod_offer__6383C8BA". The conflict occurred in database "kleber_apartment", table "dbo.offer", column 'cod_offer'.
The problem is, every time I try to execute, the FK name changes. And this FK actually doesn't exist. I already dropped both tables and tried to insert the values again, but the same happens.
What could be?
That means you're trying to add a foreign key when existing data doesn't obey that constraint. So you have a record in your apartment table where the cod_offer column does not match any value in the cod_apartment table.
Adding a foreign key not only constrains future data, but it requires that any existing data must also follow the rule.
And regarding the 6383C8BA, whenever you add a constraint without giving it a name, SQL Server picks one for you. Personally, I'd recommend something like:
alter table dbo.apartment
add constraint FK_apartment__cod_offer
foreign key (cod_offer) references dbo.offer (cod_offer);
This lets you define names the way you want, and is a little more clear about what you're actually building.
Why does add a foreign key to the tblDomare table result in this error?
The ALTER TABLE statement conflicted with the FOREIGN KEY constraint "FK__tblDomare__PersN__5F7E2DAC". The conflict occurred in database "almu0004", table "dbo.tblBana", column 'BanNR'.
Code
CREATE TABLE tblDomare
(PersNR VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
fNamn VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
eNamn VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
Erfarenhet VARCHAR (5),
PRIMARY KEY (PersNR));
INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (6811034679,'Bengt','Carlberg',10);
INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (7606091347,'Josefin','Backman',4);
INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (8508284163,'Johanna','Backman',1);
CREATE TABLE tblBana
(BanNR VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (BanNR));
INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (1);
INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (2);
INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (3);
ALTER TABLE tblDomare
ADD FOREIGN KEY (PersNR)
REFERENCES tblBana(BanNR);
It occurred because you tried to create a foreign key from tblDomare.PersNR to tblBana.BanNR but/and the values in tblDomare.PersNR didn't match with any of the values in tblBana.BanNR. You cannot create a relation which violates referential integrity.
This query was very useful for me. It shows all values that don't have any matches
select FK_column from FK_table
WHERE FK_column NOT IN
(SELECT PK_column from PK_table)
Try this solution:
There is a data item in your table whose associated value doesn't exist in the table you want to use it as a primary key table.
Make your table empty or add the associated value to the second table.
It is possible to create the foreign key using ALTER TABLE tablename WITH NOCHECK ..., which will allow data that violates the foreign key.
"ALTER TABLE tablename WITH NOCHECK ..." option to add the FK -- This solution worked for me.
Remove all existing data from your tables and then make a relation between the tables.
Before You add Foreign key to the table, do the following
Make sure the table must empty or The column data should match.
Make sure it is not null.
If the table contains do not go to design and change, do it manually.
alter table Table 1 add foreign key (Column Name) references Table 2 (Column Name)
alter table Table 1 alter column Column Name attribute not null
I guess, a column value in a foreign key table should match with the column value of the primary key table. If we are trying to create a foreign key constraint between two tables where the value inside one column(going to be the foreign key) is different from the column value of the primary key table then it will throw the message.
So it is always recommended to insert only those values in the Foreign key column which are present in the Primary key table column.
For ex. If the Primary table column has values 1, 2, 3 and in Foreign key column the values inserted are different, then the query would not be executed as it expects the values to be between 1 & 3.
In very simple words your table already has data present in it and the table you are trying to create relationship with does have that Primary key set for the values that are already present.
Either delete all the values of the existing table.
Add all the values of foreign key reference in the new table.
Try DELETE the current datas from tblDomare.PersNR . Because the values in tblDomare.PersNR didn't match with any of the values in tblBana.BanNR.
When you define a Foreign Key in table B referencing the Primary Key of table A it means that when a value is in B, it must be in A. This is to prevent unconsistent modifications to the tables.
In your example, your tables contain:
tblDomare with PRIMARY KEY (PersNR):
PersNR |fNamn |eNamn |Erfarenhet
-----------|----------|-----------|----------
6811034679 |'Bengt' |'Carlberg' |10
7606091347 |'Josefin' |'Backman' |4
8508284163 |'Johanna' |'Backman' |1
---------------------------------------------
tblBana:
BanNR
-----
1
2
3
-----
This statement:
ALTER TABLE tblDomare
ADD FOREIGN KEY (PersNR)
REFERENCES tblBana(BanNR);
says that any line in tblDomare with key PersNR must have a correspondence in table tblBana on key BanNR. Your error is because you have lines inserted in tblDomare with no correspondence in tblBana.
2 solutions to fix your issue:
either add lines in tblBana with BanNR in (6811034679, 7606091347, 8508284163)
or remove all lines in tblDomare that have no correspondence in tblBana (but your table would be empty)
General advice: you should have the Foreign Key constraint before populating the tables. Foreign keys are here to prevent the user of the table from filling the tables with inconsistencies.
i had this error too
as Smutje reffered make sure that you have not a value in foreign key column of your base foreign key table that is not in your reference table i.e(every value in your base foreign key table(value of a column that is foreign key) must also be in your reference table column)
its good to empty your base foreign key table first then set foreign keys
the data you have entered a table(tbldomare) aren't match a data you have assigned primary key table. write between tbldomare and add this word (with nocheck) then execute your code.
for example you entered a table tbldomar this data
INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (6811034679,'Bengt','Carlberg',10);
and you assigned a foreign key table to accept only 1,2,3.
you have two solutions one is delete the data you have entered a table then execute the code. another is write this word (with nocheck) put it between your table name and add
like this
ALTER TABLE tblDomare with nocheck
ADD FOREIGN KEY (PersNR)
REFERENCES tblBana(BanNR);
Smutje is correct and Chad HedgeCock offered a great layman's example.
Id like to build on Chad's example by offering a way to find/delete those records.
We will use Customer as the Parent and Order as the child. CustomerId is the common field.
select * from Order Child
left join Customer Parent on Child.CustomerId = Parent.CustomerId
where Parent.CustomerId is null
if you are reading this thread... you will get results. These are orphaned children. select * from Order Child
left join Customer Parent on Child.CustomerId = Parent.CustomerId
where Parent.CustomerId is null Note the row count in the bottom right.
Go verify w/ whomever you need to that you are going to delete these rows!
begin tran
delete Order
from Order Child
left join Customer Parent on Child.CustomerId = Parent.CustomerId
where Parent.CustomerId is null
Run the first bit.
Check that row count = what you expected
commit the tran
commit tran
Be careful. Someone's sloppy programming got you into this mess. Make sure you understand the why before you delete the orphans. Maybe the parent needs to be restored.
From our end, this is the scenario:
We have an existing table in the database with records.
Then I introduces a NOT nullable foreign key
After executing the update i got this error.
How did i solve you ask?
SOLUTION: I just removed all the records of the table, then tried to update the database and it was successful.
This happens to me, since I am designing my database, I notice that I change my seed on my main table, now the relational table has no foreign key on the main table.
So I need to truncate both tables, and it now works!
You should see if your tables has any data on the rows. If "yes" then you should truncate the table(s) or else you can make them to have the same number of data at tblDomare.PersNR to tblBana.BanNR and vise-verse.
In my scenario, using EF, upon trying to create this new Foreign Key on existing data, I was wrongly trying to populate the data (make the links) AFTER creating the foreign key.
The fix is to populate your data before creating the foreign key since it checks all of them to see if the links are indeed valid. So it couldn't possibly work if you haven't populated it yet.
I encounter some issue in my project.
In child table, there isn't any record Id equals 1 and 11
I inserted DEAL_ITEM_THIRD_PARTY_PO table which Id equals 1 and 11 then I can create FK
Please first delete data from that table and then run the migration again. You will get success
I had the same problem.
My issue was having nullable: true in column (migration file):
AddColumn("dbo.table", "column", c => c.Int(nullable: true));
Possible Solutions:
Change nullable 'false' to 'true'. (Not Recommended)
Change property type from int to int? (Recommended)
And if required, change this later after adding column > then missing field data in previous records
If you've changed an existing property from nullable to non-nullable:
3) Fill the column data in database records
A foreign key constraint in a child table must have a parent table with a primary key. The primary key must be unique. The foreign key value must match a value in the patent table primary key
When you alter table column from nullable to not nullable column where this column is foreign key, you must :
Firstly, initialize this column with value (because it is foreign
key not nullable).
After that you can alter your table column normally.
Please try below query:
CREATE TABLE tblBana
(BanNR VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
);
CREATE TABLE tblDomare
(PersNR VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
fNamn VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
eNamn VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
Erfarenhet VARCHAR (5),
FK_tblBana_Id VARCHAR (15) references tblBana (BanNR)
);
INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (3);
INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet,FK_tblBana_Id)
Values (8508284173,'Johanna','Backman',1,3);
or you can use this
SELECT fk_id FROM dbo.tableA
Except
SELECT fk_id From dbo.tableB
and just FYI, in case you do all of your data reference checks and find no bad data...apparently it is not possible to create a foreign key constraint between two tables and fields where those fields are the primary key in both tables! Do not ask me how I know this.
I am trying to add primary key to newly added column in existing table name Product_Details.
New Column added: Product_Detail_ID (int and not null)
I am trying add primary key to Product_Detail_ID (please note: there are no other primary or foreign key assigned to this table)
I am trying with this query but getting error.
ALTER TABLE Product_Details
ADD CONSTRAINT pk_Product_Detils_Product_Detail_ID PRIMARY KEY(Product_Detail_ID)
GO
Error:
The CREATE UNIQUE INDEX statement terminated because a duplicate key was found for the object name 'dbo.Product\_Details' and the index name 'pk\_Product\_Detils'. The duplicate key value is (0).
Am I missing something here? I am using SQL Server 2008 R2. I would appreciate any help.
If you want SQL Server to automatically provide values for the new column, make it an identity.
ALTER TABLE Product_Details DROP COLUMN Product_Detail_ID
GO
ALTER TABLE Product_Details ADD Product_Detail_ID int identity(1,1) not null
GO
ALTER TABLE Product_Details
add CONSTRAINT pk_Product_Detils_Product_Detail_ID primary key(Product_Detail_ID)
GO
In mysql, I was able to achieve with following query
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD new_column int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT primary key
Add Primary Key to First Position
ALTER TABLE table_name
ADD column_name INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT FIRST;
Reference: Stack Overflow | Tech On The Net
You are getting the error because you have existing data that does not fullfill the constraint.
There are 2 ways to fix it:
clean up the existing data before adding the constraint
add the constraint with the "WITH NOCHECK" option, this will stop sql server checking existing data, only new data will be checked
ALTER TABLE Jaya
ADD CONSTRAINT no primary key(No);
here Jaya is table name,
no is column name,
ADD CONSTRAINT is we giving the primary key keyword
If you want to add a new column say deptId to the existing table say department then you can do it using the below code.
ALTER TABLE department ADD COLUMN deptID INT;
it will create your new column named deptID.
now if you want to add constraint also along with new column while creating it then you can do it using the below code. In the below code I am adding primary key as a constraint. you can add another constraint also instead of primary key like foreign key, default etc.
ALTER TABLE department ADD COLUMN deptID INT NOT NULL ADD CONSTRAINT PRIMARY KEY(deptID);
k. friend
command:
sql> alter table tablename add primary key(col_name);
ex: alter table pk_Product_Detils add primary key(Product_Detail_ID);
I need to make some changes to a SQL Server 2008 database.
This requires the creation of a new table, and inserting a foreign key in the new table that references the Primary key of an already existing table. So I want to set up a relationship between my new tblTwo, which references the primary key of tblOne.
However when I tried to do this (through SQL Server Management Studio) I got the following error:
The columns in table 'tblOne' do not
match an existing primary key or
UNIQUE constraint
I'm not really sure what this means, and I was wondering if there was any way around it?
It means that the primary key in tblOne hasn't been properly declared - you need to go to tblOne and add the PRIMARY KEY constraint back onto it.
If you're sure that tblOne does have a PRIMARY KEY constraint, then maybe there are multiple tblOne tables in your DB, belonging to different schemas, and your references clause in your FK constraint is picking the wrong one.
If there's a composite key (which your comment would indicate), then you have to include both columns in your foreign key reference also. Note that a table can't have multiple primary keys - but if it has a composite key, you'll see a key symbol next to each column that is part of the primary key.
If you have a composite key the order is important when creating a FK, and sometimes the order is not how it is displayed.
What I do is go to the Keys section of the table1 and select script primary key as create to clipboard and then create FK using the order as shown in script
I've had this situation that led me to this topic. Same error but another cause. Maybe it will help someone.
Table1
ColA (PK)
ColB (PK)
ColC
Table2
ID (PK)
ColA
COLB
When trying to create foreign key in Table2 I've choose values from combobox in reverse order
Table1.ColB = Table2.ColB
Table1.ColA = Table2.ColA
This was throwing me an error like in topic name. Creating FK keeping order of columns in Primary key table as they are, made error disappear.
Stupid, but.. :)
If you still get that error after you have followed all advice from the above answers and everything looks right.
One way to fix it is by Removing your Primary keys for both tables, Save, Refresh, and add them again.
Then try to add your relationship again.
This Error happened with me When I tried to add foreign key constraint starting from PrimaryKey Table
Simpy go to other table and and create this foreign key constraint from there (foreign key Table)
This issue caught me out, I was adding the relationship on the wrong table. So if you're trying to add a relationship in table A to table B, try adding the relationship in table B to table A.
That looks like you are trying to create a foreign key in tblTwo that does not match (or participate) with any primary key or unique index in tblOne.
Check this link on MSDN regarding it. Here you have another link with a practical case.
EDIT:
Answwering to your comment, I understand you mean there are 2 fields in the primary key (which makes it a composite). In SQL it is not possible to have 2 primary keys on the same table.
IMHO, a foreign key field should always refer to a single register in the referenced table (i.e. the whole primary key in your case). That means you need to put both fields of the tblOne primary key in tblTwo before creating the foreign key.
Anyway, I have investigated a bit over the Internet and it seems SQL Server 2008 (as some prior versions and other RDBMS) gives you the possibility to reference only part of the primary key as long as this part is a candidate key (Not Null and Unique) and you create an unique constraint on it.
I am not sure you can use that in your case, but check this link for more information on it.
I have found that the column names must match.
Example:
So if tblOne has id called categoryId a reference in tblTwo must also be called categoryId.
_tblname, primary key name, foreign key_
tblOne, "categoryId", none
tblTwo, "exampleId", "categoryId"
I noticed this when trying to create foreign key between 2 tables that both had the column name "id" as primary key.
If nothing helps, then this could be the reason:
Considering this case:
Table A:
Column 1 (Primary Key)
Column 2 (Primary Key)
Column 3
Column 4
Table B:
Column a (Primary Key)
Column b
Column c
when you are defining a dependency B to A, then you are forced to respect the order in which the primaries are defined.
That's mean your dependency should look like this:
Table A Table B
Column 1 Column b
Column 2 Column c
AND NOT:
Table A Table B
Column 2 Column c
Column 1 Column b
then this will lead to the error you are encountering.
I've found another way to get this error. This can also happen if you are trying to make a recursive foreign key (a foreign key to the primary key in the same table) in design view in SQL Management Studio. If you haven't yet saved the table with the primary key it will return this message. Simply save the table then it will allow you to create the foreign key.
If you have data in your tables this could be the issue.
In my case I had some data in the Account table that I loaded at 3 pm, and some data in Contact table that I loaded at 3:10 pm, so Contact table had some values that weren't in my Account table yet.
I ended up deleting these values from the contact table and then managed to add a key without any problems.
Kindly also see that there are no existing data inside the table where the primary key is defined while setting the foreign key with another table column.
this was the cause of the error in my case.
I had to take backup empty the table set the relationship and then upload the data back.
sharing my experience
Was using ms sql smss