Is it possible to add an ON DELETE CASCADE to a table after it has been created?
My schema is as follows:
CREATE TABLE skills(name varchar, skill varchar, level int, foreign key(name) references runners(name), primary key(name, skill));
And I would like to cascade if the foreign key is deleted.
SQLite's ALTER TABLE command cannot do what you want.
However, it is possible to bypass the SQL interpreter and change the internal table definition directly.
SQLite stores table definitions as a textual copy of the CREATE TABLE command in its sqlite_master table; check out the result of this query:
SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='skills';
Add your cascade specification to that string, then enable write access to sqlite_master with PRAGMA writable_schema=1; and write your new table definition into it:
UPDATE sqlite_master SET sql='...' WHERE type='table' AND name='skills';
Then reopen the database.
WARNING: This works only for changes that do not change the on-disk format of the table. If you do make any change that changes the record format (such as adding/removing fields, or modifying the rowid), your database will blow up horribly.
Related
So i am trying to complete finance. Following is the .schema:
sqlite> .schema
CREATE TABLE users (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL, username TEXT NOT NULL, hash TEXT NOT NULL, cash NUMERIC NOT NULL DEFAULT 10000.00);
CREATE TABLE sqlite_sequence(name,seq);
CREATE TABLE history(
symbol TEXT, name TEXT, shares INTEGER, price NUMERIC, time DATETIME
);
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX username ON users (username);
When i try to add foriegn key to history table it always return error. Here is my code:
sqlite> ALTER TABLE history ADD COLUMN id INT;
sqlite> ALTER TABLE history ADD FOREIGN KEY(id) REFRENCES users(id);
Parse error: near "FOREIGN": syntax error
ALTER TABLE history ADD FOREIGN KEY(id) REFRENCES users(id);
^--- error here
I think based on what I see in the sqlite docs that the statement should be together with the ADD column:
ALTER TABLE history ADD COLUMN id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id);
But you please check me on this syntax! Another option is to take care of creating the constraint at the same time that you create the table.
CREATE TABLE history(
symbol TEXT,
name TEXT,
shares INTEGER,
price NUMERIC,
time DATETIME,
id INTEGER,
FOREIGN KEY (id)
REFERENCES users (id));
It might not be something you have realized (yet) but every database has its unique flavor of SQL, so despite there being a SQL standard there are often little differences in the syntax of SQL for specific db implementations. So you always have to beware of this when looking up commands for your sql db.
Further detail on Sqlite foreign key constraints can be found here:
https://www.sqlitetutorial.net/sqlite-foreign-key/
I have a Xamarin.Forms app that uses a SQLite database locally on the device. Here's some sample data structure:
Table x: id, name
Table y: id, name
Table x_y: id, x_id, y_id
Since SQLite doesn't support altering columns, one of the schema updates we sent down in a patch did the following:
Rename table x to x_temp
Create new/updated table x
Insert all data from table x_temp into table x
Drop table if exists x
That seems to work just fine. However, when I'm attempting to run an insert statement on table x_y, I am getting a SQLite exception: "no such table: main.x_temp".
When I look at the SQLite query string while debugging there is no mention of table x_temp whatsoever. So, if I delete the entire database and re-create everything the insert works just fine.
I'm from a MSSQL background, am I not understanding something about SQLite in general? Is the foreign key constraint from table x_y trying to reference x_temp because I renamed the original table (I may have just answered my own question)? If that's the case, surely there is a way around this without having to cascade and re-create every table?
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
I believe that your issue may be related to the SQlite version in conjunction with whether or not Foreign Key Support has been turned on.
That is the likliehood is that :-
Is the foreign key constraint from table x_y trying to reference
x_temp because I renamed the original table (I may have just answered
my own question)?
Would be the issue, as you likely have Foreign Key Support turned on as per :-
Prior to version 3.26.0 (2018-12-01), FOREIGN KEY references to a table that is renamed were only edited if the PRAGMA foreign_keys=ON, or in other words if foreign key constraints were begin enforced.
With PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF, FOREIGN KEY constraints would not be changed when the table that the foreign key referred to (the "parent table") was renamed.
Beginning with version 3.26.0, FOREIGN KEY constraints are always converted when a table is renamed, unless the PRAGMA legacy_alter_table=ON setting is engaged. The following table summaries the difference:
SQL As Understood By SQLite - ALTER TABLE
If that's the case, surely there is a way around this without having
to cascade and re-create every table?
Yes, as the latest version of SQlite on Android is 3.19.0 (I believe), then you can turn Foreign Key support off using the foreign_keys pragma when renaming the table.
Note Foreign Keys cannot be turned off within a transaction.
See SQL As Understood By SQLite - ALTER TABLE and PRAGMA foreign_keys = boolean;
I'm using SQLite, which doesn't support adding a constraint to an existing table.
So I can't do something like this (just as an example):
ALTER TABLE [Customer]
ADD CONSTRAINT specify_either_phone_or_email
CHECK (([Phone] IS NOT NULL) OR ([Email] IS NOT NULL));
Are there any workarounds for this scenario?
I know:
I can add a constraint for a new table, but it isn't new (and it's generated by my ORM, EF Core)
I can do a "table rebuild" (rename table, create new one, copy old data, drop temp table) but that seems really complex
Ideas
Can I somehow make a copy of the table into a new table, with some schema changes?
Or "get" the schema somehow, and edit it in a SQL script, then add a table with that schema?
To make a copy of a table with some schema changes, you have to do the creation and the copying manually:
BEGIN;
CREATE TABLE Customer_new (
[...],
CHECK ([...])
);
INSERT INTO Customer_new SELECT * FROM Customer;
DROP TABLE Customer;
ALTER TABLE Customer_new RENAME TO Customer;
COMMIT;
To read the schema, execute .schema Customer in the sqlite3 command-line shell.
This gives you the CREATE TABLE statement, which you can edit and execute.
To change the table in place, you can use a backdoor.
First, read the actual table definition (this is the same as what you would get from .schema):
SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type = 'table' AND name = 'Customer';
Add your CHECK constraint to that string, then enable write access to sqlite_master with PRAGMA writable_schema=1; and write your new table definition into it:
UPDATE sqlite_master SET sql='...' WHERE type='table' AND name='Customer';
Then reopen the database.
WARNING: This works only for changes that do not change the on-disk format of the table. If you do make any change that changes the record format (such as adding/removing fields, or modifying the rowid, or adding a constraint that needs an internal index), your database will blow up horribly.
Is it possible to add an ON DELETE CASCADE to a table after it has been created?
My schema is as follows:
CREATE TABLE skills(name varchar, skill varchar, level int, foreign key(name) references runners(name), primary key(name, skill));
And I would like to cascade if the foreign key is deleted.
SQLite's ALTER TABLE command cannot do what you want.
However, it is possible to bypass the SQL interpreter and change the internal table definition directly.
SQLite stores table definitions as a textual copy of the CREATE TABLE command in its sqlite_master table; check out the result of this query:
SELECT sql FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='skills';
Add your cascade specification to that string, then enable write access to sqlite_master with PRAGMA writable_schema=1; and write your new table definition into it:
UPDATE sqlite_master SET sql='...' WHERE type='table' AND name='skills';
Then reopen the database.
WARNING: This works only for changes that do not change the on-disk format of the table. If you do make any change that changes the record format (such as adding/removing fields, or modifying the rowid), your database will blow up horribly.
I have a bunch of SQLite db files, and I need to merge them into one big db files.
How can I do that?
Added
Based on this, I guess those three commands should merge two db into one.
attach './abc2.db' as toMerge;
insert into test select * from toMerge.test
detach database toMerge
The problem is the db has PRIMARY KEY field, and I got this message - "Error: PRIMARY KEY must be unique".
This is the test table for the db.
CREATE TABLE test (id integer PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,value text,goody text)
I'm just thinking off my head here... (and probably after everybody else has moved on, too).
Mapping the primary key to "NULL" should yield the wanted result (no good if you use it as foreign key somewhere else, since the key probably exists, but has different contents)
attach './abc2.db' as toMerge;
insert into test select NULL, value, goody from toMerge.test;
detach database toMerge;
actual test:
sqlite> insert into test select * from toMerge.test;
Error: PRIMARY KEY must be unique
sqlite> insert into test select NULL, value, goody from toMerge.test;
sqlite> detach database toMerge;
I'm not 100% sure, but it seems that I should read all the elements and insert the element (except the PRIMARY KEY) one by one into the new data base.