How can I list all foreign keys referencing a give

Question

I need to remove a highly referenced table in a SQL Server database. How can I get a list of all the foreign key constraints I will need to remove in order to drop the table?

(SQL answers preferable over clicking about in the GUI of the management studio.)

Answer 1

Here's the SQL code I would use.

SELECT 
   f.name AS 'Name of Foreign Key',
   OBJECT_NAME(f.parent_object_id) AS 'Table name',
   COL_NAME(fc.parent_object_id,fc.parent_column_id) AS 'Fieldname',
   OBJECT_NAME(t.object_id) AS 'References Table name',
   COL_NAME(t.object_id,fc.referenced_column_id) AS 'References fieldname',

   'ALTER TABLE [' + OBJECT_NAME(f.parent_object_id) + ']  DROP CONSTRAINT [' + f.name + ']' AS 'Delete foreign key',

   'ALTER TABLE [' + OBJECT_NAME(f.parent_object_id) + ']  WITH NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT [' + 
        f.name + '] FOREIGN KEY([' + COL_NAME(fc.parent_object_id,fc.parent_column_id) + ']) REFERENCES ' + 
        '[' + OBJECT_NAME(t.object_id) + '] ([' +
        COL_NAME(t.object_id,fc.referenced_column_id) + '])' AS 'Create foreign key'
    -- , delete_referential_action_desc AS 'UsesCascadeDelete'
FROM sys.foreign_keys AS f,
     sys.foreign_key_columns AS fc,
     sys.tables t 
WHERE f.OBJECT_ID = fc.constraint_object_id
AND t.OBJECT_ID = fc.referenced_object_id
AND OBJECT_NAME(t.object_id) = 'Employees'      --  Just show the FKs which reference a particular table
ORDER BY 2

It's not particularly clear SQL, so let's look at an example.

So, supposing I wanted to drop the Employees table in Microsoft's beloved Northwind database, but SQL Server told me that one or more Foreign Keys were preventing me from doing this.

The SQL command above would return these results...

It shows me that there are 3 Foreign Keys which reference the Employees table. In other words, I wouldn't be allowed to delete (drop) this table until these three Foreign Keys are first deleted.

In the results, the first row is how the following Foreign Key constraint would be shown in the results.

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[Employees]  WITH NOCHECK 
ADD CONSTRAINT [FK_Employees_Employees] FOREIGN KEY([ReportsTo])
REFERENCES [dbo].[Employees] ([EmployeeID])

The second-to-last column shows the SQL command I would need to use to delete one of these Foreign Keys, eg:

ALTER TABLE [Employees] DROP CONSTRAINT [FK_Employees_Employees]

...and the right-hand column shows the SQL to create it...

ALTER TABLE [Employees] WITH NOCHECK 
ADD CONSTRAINT [FK_Employees_Employees] 
FOREIGN KEY([ReportsTo]) REFERENCES [Employees] ([EmployeeID])

With all of these commands, you have everything you need to delete the relevant Foreign Keys to allow you to delete a table, then recreate them later.

Phew. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Some good answers above. But I prefer to have the answer with one query. This piece of code is taken from sys.sp_helpconstraint (sys proc)

That's the way Microsoft looks up if there are foreign keys associated to the tbl.

--setup variables. Just change 'Customer' to tbl you want
declare @objid int,
    @objname nvarchar(776)
select @objname = 'Customer'    
select @objid = object_id(@objname)

if exists (select * from sys.foreign_keys where referenced_object_id = @objid)
    select 'Table is referenced by foreign key' =
        db_name() + '.'
        + rtrim(schema_name(ObjectProperty(parent_object_id,'schemaid')))
        + '.' + object_name(parent_object_id)
        + ': ' + object_name(object_id)
    from sys.foreign_keys 
    where referenced_object_id = @objid 
    order by 1

The answer will look like this: test_db_name.dbo.Account: FK_Account_Customer

Answer 3

Determine primary keys and unique keys for all tables in a database...

This should list all the constraints and at the end you can put your filters

/* CAST IS DONE , SO THAT OUTPUT INTEXT FILE REMAINS WITH SCREEN LIMIT*/
WITH   ALL_KEYS_IN_TABLE (CONSTRAINT_NAME,CONSTRAINT_TYPE,PARENT_TABLE_NAME,PARENT_COL_NAME,PARENT_COL_NAME_DATA_TYPE,REFERENCE_TABLE_NAME,REFERENCE_COL_NAME) 
AS
(
SELECT  CONSTRAINT_NAME= CAST (PKnUKEY.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        CONSTRAINT_TYPE=CAST (PKnUKEY.type_desc AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        PARENT_TABLE_NAME=CAST (PKnUTable.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        PARENT_COL_NAME=CAST ( PKnUKEYCol.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        PARENT_COL_NAME_DATA_TYPE=  oParentColDtl.DATA_TYPE,        
        REFERENCE_TABLE_NAME='' ,
        REFERENCE_COL_NAME='' 

FROM sys.key_constraints as PKnUKEY
    INNER JOIN sys.tables as PKnUTable
            ON PKnUTable.object_id = PKnUKEY.parent_object_id
    INNER JOIN sys.index_columns as PKnUColIdx
            ON PKnUColIdx.object_id = PKnUTable.object_id
            AND PKnUColIdx.index_id = PKnUKEY.unique_index_id
    INNER JOIN sys.columns as PKnUKEYCol
            ON PKnUKEYCol.object_id = PKnUTable.object_id
            AND PKnUKEYCol.column_id = PKnUColIdx.column_id
     INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS oParentColDtl
            ON oParentColDtl.TABLE_NAME=PKnUTable.name
            AND oParentColDtl.COLUMN_NAME=PKnUKEYCol.name
UNION ALL
SELECT  CONSTRAINT_NAME= CAST (oConstraint.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        CONSTRAINT_TYPE='FK',
        PARENT_TABLE_NAME=CAST (oParent.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        PARENT_COL_NAME=CAST ( oParentCol.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        PARENT_COL_NAME_DATA_TYPE= oParentColDtl.DATA_TYPE,     
        REFERENCE_TABLE_NAME=CAST ( oReference.name AS VARCHAR(30)) ,
        REFERENCE_COL_NAME=CAST (oReferenceCol.name AS VARCHAR(30)) 
FROM sys.foreign_key_columns FKC
    INNER JOIN sys.sysobjects oConstraint
            ON FKC.constraint_object_id=oConstraint.id 
    INNER JOIN sys.sysobjects oParent
            ON FKC.parent_object_id=oParent.id
    INNER JOIN sys.all_columns oParentCol
            ON FKC.parent_object_id=oParentCol.object_id /* ID of the object to which this column belongs.*/
            AND FKC.parent_column_id=oParentCol.column_id/* ID of the column. Is unique within the object.Column IDs might not be sequential.*/
    INNER JOIN sys.sysobjects oReference
            ON FKC.referenced_object_id=oReference.id
    INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS oParentColDtl
            ON oParentColDtl.TABLE_NAME=oParent.name
            AND oParentColDtl.COLUMN_NAME=oParentCol.name
    INNER JOIN sys.all_columns oReferenceCol
            ON FKC.referenced_object_id=oReferenceCol.object_id /* ID of the object to which this column belongs.*/
            AND FKC.referenced_column_id=oReferenceCol.column_id/* ID of the column. Is unique within the object.Column IDs might not be sequential.*/

)

select * from   ALL_KEYS_IN_TABLE
where   
    PARENT_TABLE_NAME  in ('YOUR_TABLE_NAME') 
    or REFERENCE_TABLE_NAME  in ('YOUR_TABLE_NAME')
ORDER BY PARENT_TABLE_NAME,CONSTRAINT_NAME;

For reference please read thru - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqltips/archive/2005/09/16/469136.aspx