SQL - CHECK Constraint

The CHECK Constraint enables a condition to check the value being entered into a record. If the condition evaluates to false, the record violates the constraint and isn.t entered into the table.

Example -1

  1-create table Employee(
  2    ID                 VARCHAR2(4 BYTE) ,
  3    First_Name         VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  4    Last_Name          VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  5    Start_Date         DATE,
  6    End_Date           DATE,
  7    Salary             Number(8,2),
  8    City               VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
  9    Description        VARCHAR2(15 BYTE)
 10  )
 11  /
..............................................................................................................................................................
insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2               values ('01','Jason',    'Martin',  to_date('19960725','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20060725','YYYYMMDD'), 1234.56, 'Toronto',  'Programmer')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('02','Alison',   'Mathews', to_date('19760321','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19860221','YYYYMMDD'), 6661.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('03','James',    'Smith',   to_date('19781212','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19900315','YYYYMMDD'), 6544.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('04','Celia',    'Rice',    to_date('19821024','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19990421','YYYYMMDD'), 2344.78, 'Vancouver','Manager')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary,  City,       Description)
  2                values('05','Robert',   'Black',   to_date('19840115','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980808','YYYYMMDD'), 2334.78, 'Vancouver','Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('06','Linda',    'Green',   to_date('19870730','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19960104','YYYYMMDD'), 4322.78,'New York',  'Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('07','David',    'Larry',   to_date('19901231','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('19980212','YYYYMMDD'), 7897.78,'New York',  'Manager')
  3  /

1 row created.

insert into Employee(ID,  First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date,                     End_Date,                       Salary, City,        Description)
  2                values('08','James',    'Cat',     to_date('19960917','YYYYMMDD'), to_date('20020415','YYYYMMDD'), 1232.78,'Vancouver', 'Tester')
  3  /

1 row created.



select * from Employee
 

ID   FIRST_NAME           LAST_NAME            START_DAT END_DATE      SALARY CITY       DESCRIPTION
---- -------------------- -------------------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- ---------------
01   Jason                Martin               25-JUL-96 25-JUL-06    1234.56 Toronto    Programmer
02   Alison               Mathews              21-MAR-76 21-FEB-86    6661.78 Vancouver  Tester
03   James                Smith                12-DEC-78 15-MAR-90    6544.78 Vancouver  Tester
04   Celia                Rice                 24-OCT-82 21-APR-99    2344.78 Vancouver  Manager
05   Robert               Black                15-JAN-84 08-AUG-98    2334.78 Vancouver  Tester
06   Linda                Green                30-JUL-87 04-JAN-96    4322.78 New York   Tester
07   David                Larry                31-DEC-90 12-FEB-98    7897.78 New York   Manager
08   James                Cat                  17-SEP-96 15-APR-02    1232.78 Vancouver  Tester

8 rows selected.
  
  1  ALTER TABLE employee
  2  ADD CONSTRAINT status_ck
  3  CHECK (city IN ('Vancouver', 'Toronto', 'New York'));

Table altered. 


  1        insert into Employee(City)
  2                values('AAA')
  3  / 

insert into Employee(City)
*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-02290: check constraint (JAVA2S.STATUS_CK) violated

..................................................................................

Example: 2


For example, the following SQL creates a new table called CUSTOMERS and adds five columns. Here we add a CHECK with AGE column, so that you can not have any CUSTOMER below 18 years:

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

If CUSTOMERS table has already been created, then to add a CHECK constraint to AGE column, you would write a statement similar to the following:

ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS MODIFY AGE INT NOT NULL CHECK (AGE >= 18 );

You can also use following syntax, which supports naming the constraint and multiple columns as well:

ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS ADD CONSTRAINT myCheckConstraint CHECK(AGE >= 18);

DROP a CHECK Constraint:

                       To drop a CHECK constraint, use the following SQL. This syntax does not work with MySQL:

ALTER TABLE CUSTOMERS DROP CONSTRAINT myCheckConstraint;