Module4

SQL Keys

Module Overview:
Candidate key
Primary key
Alternate key
Composite key
Unique key
Foreign key
 SQL KEYS are single or multiple attributes used to
get data from the table according to the
requirement or condition. They can also be used to
set up relationships amongst various tables.
CANDIDATE KEY
CANDIDATE KEY is also a set of columns or attributes that help identify each row in the table separately. A CANDIDATE KEY can be defined as a SUPER KEY
having no matching attributes. It can be demonstrated as a sub-set of SUPER KEY. Several candidate keys can be there in a table.

StuID Roll FirstName LastName Email

harrykane@gm
01 42 Harry Kane
ail.com

ronwiesley@ya
02 43 Ron Wiesley
hooo.co.in

03 44 Dobby Wright dobbywright@

hotmail.com

Example:
StuID, Roll and Email are CANDIDATE KEYS in the above table because they help to identify each row
uniquely.
PRIMARY KEY
PRIMARY KEY is an attribute or a group of attributes that help in identifying individual rows distinctly. There cannot be the exact value of the PRIMARY KEY more than
once in the table. A PRIMARY KEY can be expressed as a sub-set of a CANDIDATE KEY. There cannot be Multiple PRIMARY KEYS in a table.

Properties of a PRIMARY KEY:

•There cannot be duplicate values of PRIMARY KEY in the table.
•PRIMARY KEY cannot contain null values.
•The value of a PRIMARY KEY should not be changed with time.
•Each individual row in the table should contain a PRIMARY KEY.
Example:
.

StuID Roll FirstName LastName Email

harrykane@gmai
01 42 Harry Kane l.com
ronwiesley@yah
02 43 Ron Wiesley
ooo.co.in
dobbywright@h
03 44 Dobby Wright
otmail.com

StuID is the primary key in the above example since it can uniquely identify each record in the table
ALTERNATE KEY
ALTERNATE KEY helps in identifying the records in the table distinctly. There can be several columns in a table that can identify individual rows in the table separately.
Out of those attributes, only one attribute is chosen as the PRIMARY KEY. The rest of the attributes become ALTERNATE KEYS.
    
Example:
StuID Roll FirstName LastName Email

01 42 Harry Kane harrykane@g

mail.com
ronwiesley@y
02 43 Ron Wiesley
ahooo.co.in
dobbywright
03 44 Dobby Wright @hotmail.co
m

In the above example, Roll and Email are ALTERNATE KEYS.

The following representation will help understand CANDIDATE KEY, PRIMARY KEY, and
ALTERNATE KEY in a better way.
COMPOSITE KEY
COMPOSITE KEY is a merger of multiple columns that help in identifying each row distinctly. This distinctness is guaranteed only when the columns are
combined. When the columns are taken individually, it does not promise distinctiveness. A PRIMARY KEY which is made of multiple attributes, is defined as a
COMPOSITE KEY.

Example:
OrderNo ProductID ProductName Quantity
A001 5624185 LCD 1
A001 3216546 Printer 2
A001 3516527 Mouse 3
A002 9816846 Keypad 1
A003 7160354 USB 5

In the above example, OrderNo and ProductID combined to form the COMPOSITE KEY. They
individually cannot identify each row in the table uniquely, but when they are combined, they can
identify each record in the table uniquely.
UNIQUE KEY

UNIQUE KEY can also identify each row in a table uniquely like a PRIMARY KEY. But, unlike
a PRIMARY KEY, a UNIQUE KEY can have only a single null value. There can be several
UNIQUE KEYS in a table.

In the above columns, CityID is the UNIQUE KEY. Suppose, if a student leaves
the city and goes abroad for studies, then that student’s CityID will not be
there. In that case, that attribute will become null and null values are allowed
in UNIQUE KEY.
FOREIGN KEY
A FOREIGN KEY in a table is an attribute that establishes a relationship between two tables. A FOREIGN KEY of one table references the PRIMARY
KEY of another table, establishing the relation between the two tables. A FOREIGN KEY can accept multiple null and duplicate values.
Example:
Let’s consider the following two tables, the Students table, and the Order tables.
The first table is the Students table.
The second table is the Order table.
The StuID in the Students table is the PRIMARY KEY, and the StuID in the Order table is the FOREIGN KEY.
These are the essential keys in SQL that should be given importance while creating or dealing with databases.

StuID FName LName City

1 Harry Kane Kolkata
2 Ron Wiesley Noida
3 Dobby Wright Mumbai

OrderID OrderNo StuID

1 65498545 3
2 46546854 2
3 21654698 3
4 65165415 1
CHECK CONSTRAINT

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 single column it allows only certain values for this
column. If you define a CHECK constraint on a table it can limit the values in certain
columns based on values in other columns in the row.

Example:

CREATE TABLE [CUSTOMER] ( CustomerId int IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, CustomerNumber int NOT
NULL UNIQUE CHECK(CustomerNumber>0), LastName varchar(50) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(50)
NOT NULL, AreaCode int NULL, Address varchar(50) NULL, Phone varchar(50) NULL, ) GO

In this case, when we try to insert a Customer Number less than zero we will get an error
message.

Setting CHECK constraints in the Designer Tools: If you want to use the designer, right-
click on the column where you want to set the constraints and select “Check
Constraints…”
DEFAULT

The DEFAULT constraint is used to insert a default value into a column. The default value
will be added to all new records, if no other value is specified.

Example:

CREATE TABLE [CUSTOMER] ( CustomerId int IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, CustomerNumber int NOT
NULL UNIQUE, LastName varchar(50) NOT NULL, FirstName varchar(50) NOT NULL, Country
varchar(20) DEFAULT 'Norway', AreaCode int NULL, Address varchar(50) NULL, Phone varchar(50)
NULL, )
GO