Postgres: SQL to list table foreign keys

Question

Is there a way using SQL to list all foreign keys for a given table? I know the table name / schema and I can plug that in.

Answer 1

Extension to ollyc recipe :

CREATE VIEW foreign_keys_view AS
SELECT
    tc.table_name, kcu.column_name,
    ccu.table_name AS foreign_table_name,
    ccu.column_name AS foreign_column_name
FROM
    information_schema.table_constraints AS tc
    JOIN information_schema.key_column_usage 
        AS kcu ON tc.constraint_name = kcu.constraint_name
    JOIN information_schema.constraint_column_usage 
        AS ccu ON ccu.constraint_name = tc.constraint_name
WHERE constraint_type = 'FOREIGN KEY';

Then:

SELECT * FROM foreign_keys_view WHERE table_name='YourTableNameHere';

Answer 2

None of the existing answers gave me results in the form that I actually wanted them in. So here is my (gargantuan) query for finding information about foreign keys.

A few notes:

• The expressions used to generate from_cols and to_cols could be vastly simplified on Postgres 9.4 and later using WITH ORDINALITY rather than the window-function-using hackery I'm using.
• Those same expressions are relying on the query planner not altering the returned order of results from UNNEST. I don't think it will, but I don't have any multiple-column foreign keys in my dataset to test with. Adding the 9.4 niceties eliminates this possibility altogether.
• The query itself requires Postgres 9.0 or later (8.x didn't allow ORDER BY in aggregate functions)
• Replace STRING_AGG with ARRAY_AGG if you want an array of columns rather than a comma-separated string.

-

SELECT
    c.conname AS constraint_name,
    (SELECT n.nspname FROM pg_namespace AS n WHERE n.oid=c.connamespace) AS constraint_schema,

    tf.name AS from_table,
    (
        SELECT STRING_AGG(QUOTE_IDENT(a.attname), ', ' ORDER BY t.seq)
        FROM
            (
                SELECT
                    ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING) AS seq,
                    attnum
                FROM
                    UNNEST(c.conkey) AS t(attnum)
            ) AS t
            INNER JOIN pg_attribute AS a ON a.attrelid=c.conrelid AND a.attnum=t.attnum
    ) AS from_cols,

    tt.name AS to_table,
    (
        SELECT STRING_AGG(QUOTE_IDENT(a.attname), ', ' ORDER BY t.seq)
        FROM
            (
                SELECT
                    ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ROWS UNBOUNDED PRECEDING) AS seq,
                    attnum
                FROM
                    UNNEST(c.confkey) AS t(attnum)
            ) AS t
            INNER JOIN pg_attribute AS a ON a.attrelid=c.confrelid AND a.attnum=t.attnum
    ) AS to_cols,

    CASE confupdtype WHEN 'r' THEN 'restrict' WHEN 'c' THEN 'cascade' WHEN 'n' THEN 'set null' WHEN 'd' THEN 'set default' WHEN 'a' THEN 'no action' ELSE NULL END AS on_update,
    CASE confdeltype WHEN 'r' THEN 'restrict' WHEN 'c' THEN 'cascade' WHEN 'n' THEN 'set null' WHEN 'd' THEN 'set default' WHEN 'a' THEN 'no action' ELSE NULL END AS on_delete,
    CASE confmatchtype::text WHEN 'f' THEN 'full' WHEN 'p' THEN 'partial' WHEN 'u' THEN 'simple' WHEN 's' THEN 'simple' ELSE NULL END AS match_type,  -- In earlier postgres docs, simple was 'u'nspecified, but current versions use 's'imple.  text cast is required.

    pg_catalog.pg_get_constraintdef(c.oid, true) as condef
FROM
    pg_catalog.pg_constraint AS c
    INNER JOIN (
        SELECT pg_class.oid, QUOTE_IDENT(pg_namespace.nspname) || '.' || QUOTE_IDENT(pg_class.relname) AS name
        FROM pg_class INNER JOIN pg_namespace ON pg_class.relnamespace=pg_namespace.oid
    ) AS tf ON tf.oid=c.conrelid
    INNER JOIN (
        SELECT pg_class.oid, QUOTE_IDENT(pg_namespace.nspname) || '.' || QUOTE_IDENT(pg_class.relname) AS name
        FROM pg_class INNER JOIN pg_namespace ON pg_class.relnamespace=pg_namespace.oid
    ) AS tt ON tt.oid=c.confrelid
WHERE c.contype = 'f' ORDER BY 1;

Answer 3

I wrote a solution that like and use frequently. The code is at http://code.google.com/p/pgutils/. See the pgutils.foreign_keys view.

Unfortunately, the output is too wordy to include here. However, you can try it on a public version of the database here, like this:

$ psql -h unison-db.org -U PUBLIC -d unison -c 'select * from pgutils.foreign_keys;

This works with 8.3 at least. I anticipate updating it, if needed, in the next few months.

-Reece

Answer 4

You can use the PostgreSQL system catalogs. Maybe you can query pg_constraint to ask for foreign keys. You can also use the Information Schema

Answer 5

This query works correct with composite keys also:

select c.constraint_name
    , x.table_schema as schema_name
    , x.table_name
    , x.column_name
    , y.table_schema as foreign_schema_name
    , y.table_name as foreign_table_name
    , y.column_name as foreign_column_name
from information_schema.referential_constraints c
join information_schema.key_column_usage x
    on x.constraint_name = c.constraint_name
join information_schema.key_column_usage y
    on y.ordinal_position = x.position_in_unique_constraint
    and y.constraint_name = c.unique_constraint_name
order by c.constraint_name, x.ordinal_position

Answer 6

check the ff post for your solution and don't forget to mark this when you fine this helpful

http://errorbank.blogspot.com/2011/03/list-all-foreign-keys-references-for.html

SELECT
  o.conname AS constraint_name,
  (SELECT nspname FROM pg_namespace WHERE oid=m.relnamespace) AS source_schema,
  m.relname AS source_table,
  (SELECT a.attname FROM pg_attribute a WHERE a.attrelid = m.oid AND a.attnum = o.conkey[1] AND a.attisdropped = false) AS source_column,
  (SELECT nspname FROM pg_namespace WHERE oid=f.relnamespace) AS target_schema,
  f.relname AS target_table,
  (SELECT a.attname FROM pg_attribute a WHERE a.attrelid = f.oid AND a.attnum = o.confkey[1] AND a.attisdropped = false) AS target_column
FROM
  pg_constraint o LEFT JOIN pg_class f ON f.oid = o.confrelid LEFT JOIN pg_class m ON m.oid = o.conrelid
WHERE
  o.contype = 'f' AND o.conrelid IN (SELECT oid FROM pg_class c WHERE c.relkind = 'r');