SQL - Primary Key

A primary key is a field in a table which uniquely identifies each row/record in a database table. Primary keys must contain unique values. A primary key column cannot have NULL values.

A table can have only one primary key, which may consist of single or multiple fields. When multiple fields are used as a primary key, they are called a composite key.

If a table has a primary key defined on any field(s), then you can not have two records having the same value of that field(s).

Note: You would use these concepts while creating database tables.


Create Primary Key

Here is the syntax to define ID attribute as a primary key in a CUSTOMERS table.

CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
       ID   INT              NOT NULL,
       NAME VARCHAR (20)     NOT NULL,
       AGE  INT              NOT NULL,
       ADDRESS  CHAR (25) ,
       SALARY   DECIMAL (18, 2),      
       PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);

To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "ID" column when CUSTOMERS table already exists, use the following SQL syntax:

ALTER TABLE CUSTOMER ADD PRIMARY KEY (ID);

NOTE: If you use the ALTER TABLE statement to add a primary key, the primary key column(s) must already have been declared to not contain NULL values (when the table was first created).

For defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint on multiple columns, use the following SQL syntax:

CREATE TABLE CUSTOMERS(
       ID   INT              NOT NULL,
       NAME VARCHAR (20)     NOT NULL,
       AGE  INT              NOT NULL,
       ADDRESS  CHAR (25) ,
       SALARY   DECIMAL (18, 2),       
       PRIMARY KEY (ID, NAME)
);

To create a PRIMARY KEY constraint on the "ID" and "NAMES" columns when CUSTOMERS table already exists, use the following SQL syntax:

ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS ADD CONSTRAINT PK_CUSTID PRIMARY KEY (ID, NAME);

Delete Primary Key:

You can clear the primary key constraints from the table, Use Syntax:

ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS DROP PRIMARY KEY ;