primary key sql query code example

Example 1: primary key sql

A primary key is a field in a table which uniquely identifies each row/record in a database table. Primary keys must contain unique values. A primary key column cannot have NULL values.

A table can have only one primary key, which may consist of single or multiple fields. When multiple fields are used as a primary key, they are called a composite key.

If a table has a primary key defined on any field(s), then you cannot have two records having the same value of that field(s).

Example 2: identify primary key in sql table

-- NOTE: this is for SQL-Oracle specifically

-- syntax:
SELECT cols.table_name, cols.column_name, cols.position, cons.status, cons.owner
FROM all_constraints cons, all_cons_columns cols
WHERE cols.table_name = '<table-name>' -- Replace <table-name> with your table-name
AND cons.constraint_type = 'P'
AND cons.constraint_name = cols.constraint_name
AND cons.owner = cols.owner


-- example:
SELECT cols.table_name, cols.column_name, cols.position, cons.status, cons.owner
FROM all_constraints cons, all_cons_columns cols
WHERE cols.table_name = 'CUSTOMERS' 
AND cons.constraint_type = 'P'
AND cons.constraint_name = cols.constraint_name
AND cons.owner = cols.owner