SQL CONSTRAINT Keyword

ADD CONSTRAINT

The ADD CONSTRAINT command is used to create a constraint after a table is already created.

The following SQL adds a constraint named "PK_Person" that is a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns (ID and LastName):

ALTER TABLE Persons
ADD CONSTRAINT PK_Person PRIMARY KEY (ID,LastName);

The DROP CONSTRAINT command is used to delete a UNIQUE, PRIMARY KEY, FOREIGN KEY, or CHECK constraint.

To drop a UNIQUE constraint, use the following SQL:

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT UC_Person;

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP INDEX UC_Person;

To drop a PRIMARY KEY constraint, use the following SQL:

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT PK_Person;

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP PRIMARY KEY;

To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_PersonOrder;

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP FOREIGN KEY FK_PersonOrder;

To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL:

SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CONSTRAINT CHK_PersonAge;

MySQL:

ALTER TABLE Persons
DROP CHECK CHK_PersonAge;