Lab-3

SQL constraints
Objective: To be familiar with constraints in SQL
Theory:

 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.
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

NOT NULL
 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 without adding a value to this field.

 create table with NOT NULL constraint

Example:

CREATE TABLE Colleges (

college_id INT NOT NULL,
college_code VARCHAR(20),
college_name VARCHAR(50)
);
  Add the NOT NULL constraint to a column in an existing table
Example:

ALTER TABLE Colleges

MODIFY COLUMN college_id INT NOT NULL;

 Remove NOT NULL Constraint

Example:
ALTER TABLE Colleges
MODIFY college_id INT;

UNIQUE
 The UNIQUE constraint ensures that all values in a column are different.

 Create a table with unique constraint

Example
CREATE TABLE Colleges (
college_id INT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
college_code VARCHAR(20) UNIQUE,
college_name VARCHAR(50)
);

 Add the UNIQUE constraint to an existing column

For single column
Example
ALTER TABLE Colleges
ADD UNIQUE (college_id);

For multiple columns

Example
ALTER TABLE Colleges
ADD UNIQUE Unique_College (college_id, college_code);
 Here, the SQL command adds the UNIQUE constraint to college_id and college_code
columns in the existing Colleges table.
 Also, Unique_College is a name given to the UNIQUE constraint defined for college_id
and college_code columns.
  DROP a UNIQUE Constraint
Example

ALTER TABLE Colleges

DROP INDEX Unique_College;

PRIMARY KEY
 The PRIMARY KEY constraint uniquely identifies each record in a table.
 Primary keys must contain UNIQUE values, and cannot contain NULL values.

 Create table with PRIMARY KEY constraint

Syntax:
CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 data_type,
............................,
[CONSTRAINT constraint_name] PRIMARY KEY (column1)
);

Example
CREATE TABLE Colleges (
college_id INT,
college_code VARCHAR(20) ,
college_name VARCHAR(50),
CONSTRAINT CollegePK PRIMARY KEY (college_id)
);
//Create Colleges table with primary key college_id
 Add the PRIMARY KEY constraint to a column in an existing table
Example

ALTER TABLE Colleges

ADD CONSTRAINT CollegePK PRIMARY KEY (college_id);

 DROP a PRIMARY KEY Constraint

Example

ALTER TABLE Colleges

DROP PRIMARY KEY;
CHECK
 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.

 CHECK constraint while creating table

Example:
Here we are Applying the CHECK constraint named amountCK the constraint makes sure that
amount is greater than 0.
CREATE TABLE Orders (
order_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
amount INT,
CONSTRAINT amountCK CHECK (amount > 0)
);

 Add CHECK Constraint in Existing Table

Here we add CHECK constraint named amountCK the constraint makes sure that amount is
greater than 0.
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD CONSTRAINT amountCK CHECK (amount > 0);

 Remove CHECK Constraint

ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT amountCK;

DEFAULT
 the DEFAULT constraint is used to set a default value if we try to insert an empty value
into a column.
 However if the user provides value then the particular value will be stored.

 Default constraint while creating table

The following example set default value of college_country column to 'Nepal'
Example:
CREATE TABLE College (
college_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
college_code VARCHAR(20),
college_country VARCHAR(20) DEFAULT 'Nepal'
);

 Add the DEFAULT constraint to an existing column

Example:
ALTER TABLE College
ALTER college_country SET DEFAULT 'Nepal';

 Remove Default Constraint

Example:
ALTER TABLE College
ALTER college_country DROP DEFAULT;

FOREIGN KEY
The FOREIGN KEY constraint in SQL establishes a relationship between two tables by linking
columns in one table to those in another.
 Here, the customer_id field in the Orders table is a FOREIGN KEY that references the
customer_id field in the Customers table.
 This means that the value of the customer_id (of the Orders table) must be a value from
the customer_id column (of the Customers table).

The syntax of the SQL FOREIGN KEY constraint is:

CREATE TABLE table_name (
column1 data_type,
column2 data_type,
…………………………..,
[CONSTRAINT CONSTRAINT_NAME] FOREIGN KEY (column_name)
REFERENCES referenced_table_name (referenced_column_name)
);
Here,
 table_name is the name of the table where the FOREIGN KEY constraint is to be
defined
 column_name is the name of the column where the FOREIGN KEY constraint is to
be defined
  referenced_table_name and referenced_column_name are the names of the
table and the column that the FOREIGN KEY constraint references
 [CONSTRAINT CONSTRAINT_NAME] is optional
Let us see with following example
 This table doesn't have a foreign key
 add foreign key to the customer_id field
 the foreign key references the id field of the Customers table
-- this table doesn't have a foreign key

CREATE TABLE Customers (

customer_id INT,
first_name VARCHAR(40),
last_name VARCHAR(40),
age INT,
country VARCHAR(10),
CONSTRAINT CustomersPK PRIMARY KEY (customer_id)
);
-- add foreign key to the customer_id field
-- the foreign key references the id field of the Customers table
CREATE TABLE Orders (
order_id INT,
product VARCHAR(40),
total INT,
customer_id INT,
CONSTRAINT OrdersPK PRIMARY KEY (order_id),
CONSTRAINT CustomerOrdersFK FOREIGN KEY (customer_id) REFERENCES
Customers(customer_id)
);

Add the FOREIGN KEY constraint to an existing table

 add foreign key to the customer_id field of Orders the foreign key references the
customer_id field of Customers

ALTER TABLE Orders

ADD FOREIGN KEY (customer_id) REFERENCES Customers(customer_id);
Remove a FOREIGN KEY Constraint
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP FOREIGN KEY CustomerOrdersFK;
Problem:
1) create a database named customers_db
create database customer_db;

use customer_db;
2) create a table named customers with following columns adding constraints following
constraints
Customer_id: Primary key
Name: not null

customer_id name Email Age address

Int varchar(30) varchar(30) Int varchar(30)

CREATE TABLE customers(customer_id int,name varchar(30) NOT NULL,email varchar(255),age

int,address varchar(30),PRIMARY KEY(customer_id));
OR
CREATE TABLE customers(customer_id int,name varchar(30) NOT NULL,email varchar(255),age
int,address varchar(30),CONSTRAINT customer_pk PRIMARY KEY(customer_id));
OR
CREATE TABLE customers(customer_id int PRIMARY KEY,name varchar(30) NOT NULL,email
varchar(255),age int,address varchar(30));

3) Now insert 2 records of customer with and without violating constraints

insert into customers values(1,'ram','[email protected]',22,'kathmandu');

insert into customers values(2,'sita','[email protected]',25,'pokhara');

insert into customers values(2,'gita','[email protected]',26,'butwal');

This cannot inserted because customer_id is primary key which should be unique and not null

insert into customers(customer_id,email,age,address) values

(3,'[email protected]',26,'butwal');

select *from customers;

//Now we cannot see NULL in coumn named name which we have left empty

insert into customers (customer_id,name,age,address) values (4,'hari',27,'kathmandu');

select *from customers;
//But We can see now NULL value at email

4) Now add the following constraint to the table named customer

 Email must be unique of each customer
alter table customers add unique(email);
 Age must be greater than 18
alter table customers add constraint age_check CHECK(age>18);
OR
alter table customers add CHECK(age>18);
 The default value of address must be kathmandu
alter table customers alter address SET DEFAULT 'kathmandu';
5) Try to insert data to violate the above constraints
insert into customer values (6,ramesh,'[email protected]',20,'dolkha');
// this will works
insert into customer values (7,'ramesh','[email protected]',15,'dolkha');
//this will not works age must be greater than 18
insert into customer values (7,'ramesh','[email protected]',19,'dolkha');
//this will not works because Duplicate entry '[email protected]' for key 'email'

6) Write a query to show illustrate default constraint works

insert into customers(customer_id,name,email,age) values(5,'gopal','[email protected]',20);

//Here default address will set to kathmandu

7) create table orders with following columns

customer_id Name Email age Address

Int varchar(30) varchar(30) Int varchar(30)

Order_id Product_name Price Customer_id

And order_id is primary key and customer_id as foreign key for customer

create table orders(order_id int,product_name varchar(30),price int,customer_id int,primary

key(order_id),foreign key (customer_id) references customers(customer_id));
OR
create table orders(order_id int,product_name varchar(30),price int,customer_id
int,CONSTRAINT order_pk primary key(order_id),CONSTRAINT custorder_fk foreign key
(customer_id) references customers(customer_id));
Now ,

update customers set name='gita' where customer_id=3;

update customers set email='[email protected]' address='lalitpur' where customer_id=4;
update customers set address='bhaktapur' where customer_id=5;
insert into orders values(1,'iron',1200,1);
insert into orders values(2,'guitar',4500,2);
insert into orders values (3,'phone',57000,1);
insert into orders values(4,'mouse',700,2);
insert into orders values(5,'printer',88000,3);
insert into orders values(6,'drone',120000,2);

Try to insert customer_id in orders table that does not exist in customers table
insert into orders values(6,'drone',120000,6);
This cannot be inserted