Sql – Add primary key to existing table

constraintsprimary-keysqlsql serversql-server-2008

I have an existing table called Persion. In this table I have 5 columns:

persionId
Pname
PMid
Pdescription
Pamt

When I created this table, I set PersionId and Pname as the primary key.

I now want to include one more column in the primary key – PMID. How can I write an ALTER statement to do this? (I already have 1000 records in the table)

Best Answer

drop constraint and recreate it

alter table Persion drop CONSTRAINT <constraint_name>

alter table Persion add primary key (persionId,Pname,PMID)

edit:

you can find the constraint name by using the query below:

select OBJECT_NAME(OBJECT_ID) AS NameofConstraint
FROM sys.objects
where OBJECT_NAME(parent_object_id)='Persion'
and type_desc LIKE '%CONSTRAINT'

Syntax:

ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME} 
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL} 
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES

Example:

ALTER TABLE SomeTable
        ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
 CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
    DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.

Notes:

Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6

Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES or not.

How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable and do not Specify SomeCol's value, then it will Default to 0.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol's value as NULL (and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL will be inserted as the Value.

Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.

SQL update from one Table to another based on a ID match

I believe an UPDATE FROM with a JOIN will help:

MS SQL

UPDATE
    Sales_Import
SET
    Sales_Import.AccountNumber = RAN.AccountNumber
FROM
    Sales_Import SI
INNER JOIN
    RetrieveAccountNumber RAN
ON 
    SI.LeadID = RAN.LeadID;

MySQL and MariaDB

UPDATE
    Sales_Import SI,
    RetrieveAccountNumber RAN
SET
    SI.AccountNumber = RAN.AccountNumber
WHERE
    SI.LeadID = RAN.LeadID;