We have "alter table" syntax from Oracle to add data constraints in-place in this form:

alter table

table_name

add constraint

constraint_name;

We can also use "alter table" syntax to enable or disable constraints:

alter table

table_name

ENABLE constraint

constraint_name;

alter table

table_name

DISABLE constraint

constraint_name;

Check Constraint

We have details on the different types of constraints:

alter table
 table_name

add constraint

check_constraint_name

CHECK

(check_column_name IN

'check_constraint1_value',

'check_constraint2_value',

'check_constraint3_value',

'check_constraint4_value'

) DISABLE|ENABLE;

Here are some examples of Oracle "alter table" syntax to add foreign key constraints.

alter table

cust_table

add constraint

fk_cust_name FOREIGN KEY (person_name)

references

person_table (person_name)

initially deferred deferrable;

Here is an example of a multiple column foreign key constraint:

alter table

cust_table

add constraint

fk_cust_name FOREIGN KEY (person_name, person_gender)

references

person_table (person_name, person_gender)

initially deferred deferrable;

Here is another example of Oracle "alter table" syntax to drop constraints.

ALTER TABLE

cust_table

drop constraint

fk_cust_table_ref;

Here we use Oracle "alter table" syntax to add a check constraint.

alter table

cust_table

add constraint

check_cust_types

CHECK

(cust_type IN

'yuppie',
 'dink',

'guppie'

);

Oracle constraint errors

The following errors are associated with Oracle constraint alter commands:

ORA-02290: check constraint (owner.constraintname) violated

ORA-02291: integrity constraint (owner.constraintname) violated - parent key not found

ORA-02292:violated integrity constraint (owner.constraintname)- child record found

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