Ensuring Compatible Object Names

Each database object must have a unique name within a certain name space.

Outside this name space, duplicate names are allowed. Some database objects occupy different name spaces in Adaptive Server as compared to SQL Anywhere and SAP Sybase IQ.

Table Name Uniqueness

Table name uniqueness requirements apply within a database:
  • For SAP Sybase IQ and SQL Anywhere, table names must be unique within a database for a given owner. For example, both user1 and user2 can create a table called employee; uniqueness is provided by the fully qualified names, user1.employee and user2.employee.

  • For Adaptive Server, table names must be unique within the database and to the owner.

Index Name Uniqueness

Index name uniqueness requirements apply within a table. In all three products, indexes are owned by the owner of the table on which they are created. Index names must be unique on a given table, but any two tables can have an index of the same name, even for the same owner. For example, in all three products, tables t1 and t2 can have indexes of the same name, whether they are owned by the same or different users.

Renaming Indexes and Foreign Keys

SAP Sybase IQ allows you to rename explicitly created indexes, foreign key role names of indexes, and foreign keys, using the ALTER INDEX statement. SQL Anywhere allows you to rename indexes, foreign key role names, and foreign keys, using the ALTER INDEX statement. Adaptive Server does not allow you to rename these objects.