MS SQL Maestro online Help
Foreign Keys
A foreign key constraint specifies that the values in a column (or a group of columns) must match the values appearing in some row of another table. They are said to maintain the referential integrity between two related tables.
Note: To create a foreign key constraint, it is necessary to have this privilege for both the referencing and referenced tables.
See also: Table Editor, Index Editor.
You can find answers on the commonest question about working with foreign keys here:
Foreign keys are created within the Foreign Key Properties dialog window. In order to open the dialog you should either
| • | open the table in Table Editor and the Foreign Keys tab there; |
| • | press the Insert key or select the Add New Foreign Key... item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar) |
or
| • | select the table in the explorer tree and use the Create New Foreign Key popup menu item |
or
| • | select the table Foreign Keys node or any foreign key within the table in the explorer tree and use the Add New Foreign Key... popup menu item. |
|
Foreign Keys are edited within the Foreign Key Properties dialog window. In order to open the dialog you should either
| • | open the table in Table Editor and the Foreign Keys tab there; |
| • | press the Enter key or select the Edit Foreign Key item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar) |
or
| • | select the foreign key to edit in the explorer tree and use the Edit Foreign Key popup menu item. |
You can change the name of the foreign key using the Rename Foreign Key dialog. To open the dialog you should either
| • | select the foreign key to rename in the explorer tree; |
| • | select the Rename Foreign Key item from the popup menu |
or
| • | open the table in Table Editor and the Foreign Keys tab there; |
| • | select the foreign key to rename; |
| • | select the Rename Foreign Key item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar). |
|
To drop the foreign key:
| • | select the foreign key to drop in the explorer tree; |
| • | select the Drop Foreign Key item from the popup menu |
or
| • | open the table in Table Editor and the Foreign Keys tab there; |
| • | press the Delete key or select the Drop Foreign Key item from the popup menu (alternatively, you may use the corresponding link of the Navigation Bar) |
and confirm dropping in the dialog window.
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