7:00 AM
Deep Dey
The UNIQUE constraint ensures that all values in a column are distinct.
For example, in the following CREATE TABLE statement,
CREATE TABLE Customer
(SID integer Unique,
Last_Name varchar (30),
First_Name varchar(30));
column "SID" has a unique constraint, and hence cannot include duplicate values. Such constraint does not hold for columns "Last_Name" and "First_Name". So, if the table already contains the following rows:
| SID | Last_Name | First_Name |
| 1 | Johnson | Stella |
| 2 | James | Gina |
| 3 | Aaron | Ralph |
Executing the following SQL statement,
INSERT INTO Customer values ('3','Lee','Grace');
will result in an error because '3' already exists in the SID column, thus trying to insert another row with that value violates the UNIQUE constraint.
Please note that a column that is specified as a primary key must also be unique. At the same time, a column that's unique may or may not be a primary key. In addition, multiple UNIQUE constraints can be defined on a table.
