How do I drop a foreign key constraint only if it exists in sql server?
The more simple solution is provided in Eric Isaacs's answer. However, it will find constraints on any table. If you want to target a foreign key constraint on a specific table, use this:
IF EXISTS (SELECT *
FROM sys.foreign_keys
WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'FK_TableName_TableName2')
AND parent_object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.TableName')
)
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[TableName] DROP CONSTRAINT [FK_TableName_TableName2]
This is a lot simpler than the current proposed solution:
IF (OBJECT_ID('dbo.FK_ConstraintName', 'F') IS NOT NULL)
BEGIN
ALTER TABLE dbo.TableName DROP CONSTRAINT FK_ConstraintName
END
If you need to drop another type of constraint, these are the applicable codes to pass into the OBJECT_ID() function in the second parameter position:
C = CHECK constraint
D = DEFAULT (constraint or stand-alone)
F = FOREIGN KEY constraint
PK = PRIMARY KEY constraint
UQ = UNIQUE constraint
You can also use OBJECT_ID without the second parameter.
Full List of types here:
Object type:
AF = Aggregate function (CLR) C = CHECK constraint D = DEFAULT (constraint or stand-alone) F = FOREIGN KEY constraint FN = SQL scalar function FS = Assembly (CLR) scalar-function FT = Assembly (CLR) table-valued function IF = SQL inline table-valued function IT = Internal table P = SQL Stored Procedure PC = Assembly (CLR) stored-procedure PG = Plan guide PK = PRIMARY KEY constraint R = Rule (old-style, stand-alone) RF = Replication-filter-procedure S = System base table SN = Synonym SO = Sequence object
Applies to: SQL Server 2012 through SQL Server 2014.
SQ = Service queue TA = Assembly (CLR) DML trigger TF = SQL table-valued-function TR = SQL DML trigger TT = Table type U = Table (user-defined) UQ = UNIQUE constraint V = View X = Extended stored procedure
In SQL Server 2016 you can use DROP IF EXISTS:
CREATE TABLE t(id int primary key,
parentid int
constraint tpartnt foreign key references t(id))
GO
ALTER TABLE t
DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS tpartnt
GO
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS t
See https://web.archive.org/web/20151105064708/http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlserverstorageengine/archive/2015/11/03/drop-if-exists-new-thing-in-sql-server-2016.aspx