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In the relational model of databases, a primary key is a designated attribute that can reliably identify and distinguish between each individual record in a table.The database creator can choose an existing unique attribute or combination of attributes from the table (a natural key) to act as its primary key, or create a new attribute containing a unique ID that exists solely for this purpose ...
A relational database (RDB [1]) is a database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. [ 2 ] A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a type of database management system that stores data in a structured format using rows and columns .
The syntax of the SQL programming language is defined and maintained by ISO/IEC SC 32 as part of ISO/IEC 9075. This standard is not freely available. This standard is not freely available. Despite the existence of the standard, SQL code is not completely portable among different database systems without adjustments.
Using a database-specific stored procedure that generates the surrogate key, performs the INSERT operation, and finally returns the generated key. For example, in Microsoft SQL Server, the key is retrieved via the SCOPE_IDENTITY() special function, while in SQLite the function is named last_insert_rowid().
Conversely, an inner join can result in disastrously slow performance or even a server crash when used in a large volume query in combination with database functions in an SQL Where clause. [2] [3] [4] A function in an SQL Where clause can result in the database ignoring relatively compact table indexes. The database may read and inner join the ...
A candidate key, or simply a key, of a relational database is any set of columns that have a unique combination of values in each row, with the additional constraint that removing any column could produce duplicate combinations of values. A candidate key is a minimal superkey, [1] i.e., a superkey that does not contain a smaller one. Therefore ...
An associative entity is a term used in relational and entity–relationship theory. A relational database requires the implementation of a base relation (or base table) to resolve many-to-many relationships. A base relation representing this kind of entity is called, informally, an associative table. An associative entity (using Chen notation)
Use of an immutable natural key as a primary key. In a good database design, a natural key which can change should not be considered as a "real" primary key. Use of a mutable natural key as a primary key (it is widely discouraged) where changes are propagated in every place where it is a foreign key. In such a case, the history table should be ...