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This SQL Server tutorial explains how to use Foreign Keys with "set null on delete" in SQL Server with syntax and examples.
Create Foreign key with set null on delete - Using CREATE TABLE statement
Syntax
The syntax for creating a foreign key with set null on delete using a CREATE TABLE statement in SQL Server (Transact-SQL) is:
CONSTRAINT fk_name
FOREIGN KEY (child_col1, child_col2, ... child_col_n)
REFERENCES parent_table (parent_col1, parent_col2, ... parent_col_n)
ON DELETE SET NULL
[ ON UPDATE { NO ACTION | CASCADE | SET NULL | SET DEFAULT } ]
);
child_table
The name of the child table that you wish to create.
column1, column2
The columns that you wish to create in the table. Each column must have a datatype. The column should either be defined as NULL or NOT NULL and if this value is
left blank, the database assumes NULL as the default.
fk_name
The name of the foreign key constraint that you wish to create.
parent_table
The name of the parent table whose primary key will be used in the child_table.
ON UPDATE
Optional. It specifies what to do with the child data when the parent data is updated. You have the options of NO ACTION, CASCADE, SET NULL, or SET DEFAULT.
NO ACTION
It is used in conjunction with ON DELETE or ON UPDATE. It means that no action is performed with the child data when the parent data is deleted or updated.
CASCADE
It is used in conjunction with ON DELETE or ON UPDATE. It means that the child data is either deleted or updated when the parent data is deleted or updated.
SET NULL
It is used in conjunction with ON DELETE or ON UPDATE. It means that the child data is set to NULL when the parent data is deleted or updated.
SET DEFAULT
It is used in conjunction with ON DELETE or ON UPDATE. It means that the child data is set to their default values when the parent data is deleted or updated.
Example
Let's look at an example of how to create a foreign key with set null on delete in SQL Server (Transact-SQL) using the CREATE TABLE statement.
For example:
CREATE TABLE products
( product_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
product_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
category VARCHAR(25)
);
In this foreign key example, we've created our parent table as the products table. The products table has a primary key that consists of the product_id field.
Next, we've created a second table called inventory that will be the child table in this foreign key example. We have used the CREATE TABLE statement to create a
foreign key on the inventory table called fk_inv_product_id. The foreign key establishes a relationship between the product_id column in the inventory table and
the product_id column in the products table.
For this foreign key, we have specified the ON DELETE SET NULL clause which tells SQL Server to set the corresponding records in the child table to NULL when the
data in the parent table is deleted. So in this example, if a product_id value is deleted from the products table, the corresponding records in the inventory table that use
this product_id will have the product_id set to NULL.
Now one important thing about setting up this foreign key!!! Since this foreign key will set the product_id field to NULL on delete in the inventory table, you need to make
sure that you have set up the product_id column in the child table to a nullable column. If you set the column to a NOT NULL in the CREATE TABLE statement, you will
receive the following error message:
CREATE TABLE inventory
( inventory_id INT PRIMARY KEY,
product_id INT NOT NULL,
quantity INT,
min_level INT,
max_level INT,
CONSTRAINT fk_inv_product_id
FOREIGN KEY (product_id)
REFERENCES products (product_id)
ON DELETE SET NULL
);
So be sure to define your product_id in the inventory table as a nullable field as follows so that SQL Server can set the column to NULL when the foreign key constraint
needs to.
Syntax
The syntax for creating a foreign key with set null on delete using an ALTER TABLE statement in SQL Server (Transact-SQL) is:
child_table
The name of the child table that you wish to modify.
fk_name
The name of the foreign key constraint that you wish to create.
parent_table
The name of the parent table whose primary key will be used in the child_table.
Example
Let's look at an example of how to create a foreign key with set null on delete in SQL Server (Transact-SQL) using the ALTER TABLE statement.
For example:
ALTER TABLE inventory
ADD CONSTRAINT fk_inv_product_id
FOREIGN KEY (product_id)
REFERENCES products (product_id)
ON DELETE SET NULL;
In this foreign key example, we've created a foreign key on the inventory table called fk_inv_product_id that references the products table based on the product_id field.
For this foreign key, we have specified the ON DELETE SET NULL clause which tells SQL Server to update the corresponding records in the child table to NULL when the
data in the parent table is deleted. So in this example, if a product_id value is deleted from the products table, the corresponding records in the inventory table that use
this product_id will have the product_id column set to NULL.