Managing primary keys

A primary key comprises a single column, or a set of columns combined together, whose values identify unique rows in a table. Primary key values do not change over the life of the data in the row. Because uniqueness is essential to good database design, it is best to specify a primary key when you define the table.

It is recommended that you do not use approximate data types such as FLOAT and DOUBLE for primary keys or for columns with unique constraints. Approximate numeric data types are subject to rounding errors after arithmetic operations.

This section describes how to create and edit primary keys in your database. You can use either Sybase Central or Interactive SQL to perform these tasks.

Column order in multi-column primary keys

Primary key column order is determined by the primary key and foreign key clauses in the CREATE TABLE statement. It is not based on the order of the columns as specified in the primary key declaration of the CREATE TABLE statement.


Manage primary keys (Sybase Central)
Manage primary keys (SQL)