The FOREIGN KEY constraint establishes a link between two tables, and prevents action that will destroy the link between them.
A FOREIGN KEY is a column in a table that refers to the PRIMARY KEY in another table.
The table with the foreign key column is called the child table, and the table with the primary key column is called the referenced or parent table.
The FOREIGN KEY constraint prevents invalid data from being inserted into the foreign key column (in the child table), because the value has to exist in the parent table.
The FOREIGN KEY constraint also prevents you from deleting a record in the parent table, if related rows still exist in the child table.
Persons Table
| PersonID | LastName | FirstName | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hansen | Ola | 30 |
| 2 | Svendson | Tove | 23 |
Orders Table
| OrderID | OrderNumber | PersonID |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 22456 | 2 |
| 4 | 24562 | 1 |
Here we see that the "PersonID" column in the "Orders" table points to the "PersonID" column in the "Persons" table.
The "PersonID" column in the "Persons" table is the PRIMARY KEY in the "Persons" table.
The "PersonID" column in the "Orders" table is the FOREIGN KEY in the "Orders" table.
FOREIGN KEY on CREATE TABLE
The following SQL creates a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "PersonID" column upon creation of the "Orders" table:
CREATE TABLE Orders
(
OrderID int PRIMARY KEY,
OrderNumber int NOT NULL,
PersonID int,
CONSTRAINT fk_Person
FOREIGN KEY (PersonID)
REFERENCES Persons(PersonID)
);FOREIGN KEY on ALTER TABLE
To create a FOREIGN KEY constraint on the "PersonID" column after the "Orders" table is created, use the following SQL:
ALTER TABLE Orders
ADD CONSTRAINT fk_Person
FOREIGN KEY (PersonID)
REFERENCES Persons(PersonID);Drop a FOREIGN KEY Constraint
To drop a FOREIGN KEY constraint, use the following SQL:
SQL Server / Oracle / MS Access:
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT fk_Person;MySQL
ALTER TABLE Orders
DROP FOREIGN KEY fk_Person;