Using a case statement in a check constraint
Solution 1
I think you can do the following:
CREATE TABLE Grade
(
salary_grade char(1) NOT NULL CHECK (REGEXP_LIKE(salary_grade, '[A-G]', 'c')),
salary_scale char(2) DEFAULT 'S1' NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_grade PRIMARY KEY (salary_grade),
CONSTRAINT ck_grade_scale CHECK ( REGEXP_LIKE(salary_grade, '[A-D]', 'c') AND salary_scale = 'S1'
OR REGEXP_LIKE(salary_grade, '[E-G]', 'c') AND salary_scale = 'S2' )
);
Please see SQL Fiddle schema here.
You don't need the UPPER()
constraint on salary_grade
since the regex check will suffice (you're already checking to make sure it's an uppercase letter between A and G). I don't think the constraint on salary_scale
alone is necessary either since it would be contained, logically, in the last constraint.
UPDATE
Here is how you might do it with a CASE
statement:
CREATE TABLE Grade
(
salary_grade char(1) NOT NULL CHECK (REGEXP_LIKE(salary_grade, '[A-G]', 'c')),
salary_scale char(2) DEFAULT 'S1' NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT pk_grade PRIMARY KEY (salary_grade),
CONSTRAINT ck_grade_scale CHECK ( salary_scale = CASE WHEN REGEXP_LIKE(salary_grade, '[A-D]', 'c') THEN 'S1' ELSE 'S2' END )
);
Please see SQL Fiddle schema here.
Solution 2
A case
has to be compared to something, which is why you are getting the missing right parenthesis error. Unless you particularly want a case
, you can just check the combination with and/or:
CONSTRAINT ck_grade_scale CHECK(
(salary_grade BETWEEN 'A' AND 'D' AND salary_scale = 'S1')
OR (salary_grade BETWEEN 'D' AND 'G' AND salary_scale = 'S2')),
As Parado has said, you can't use constraints to set column values conditionally, only to restrict them. You could potentially use a virtual column for the scale, but it would mean putting part of a look-up table into the DDL rather than the data, which seems a bit strange.
Solution 3
Check Constraints
is used to test data before insert to protect data structure from fake data. Actually we use case
in select
statement. You can't use it for conditional insert. If you want to change data for particular column before insert you need to use trigger
or you can also use virtual column
but which has some restrictions.
More information you can find here
user3414871
Updated on June 15, 2022Comments
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user3414871 almost 2 years
i'v been learning SQL for the last week but I am unsure how to correctly add a case statement within a check constraint. Can anybody give me any pointers?
I have the following grade table:
CREATE TABLE Grade ( salary_grade char(1) NOT NULL CHECK (salary_grade = UPPER(salary_grade)), CONSTRAINT ck_grade_scale CHECK( CASE WHEN salary_grade = '[A-D]' THEN salary_scale = 'S1' WHEN salary_grade = '[D-G]' THEN salary_scale = 'S2' END) salary_scale char(2) DEFAULT 'S1' NOT NULL, CONSTRAINT pk_grade PRIMARY KEY (salary_grade), CONSTRAINT ck_salary_grade CHECK (REGEXP_LIKE(salary_grade, '[A-G]', 'c')), --constraint must be either S1 or S2 CONSTRAINT ck_salary_scale CHECK (salary_scale IN ('S1', 'S2')) );
I want to check that if the
salary_grade
is between A-D then thesalary_scale
must be 'S1' or if thesalary_grade
is between E-G then it's 'S2'.I have tried to research this and come up with the latter but however it does not work.. have I structured the code correctly?
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user3414871 over 9 yearsI kinda already know how to do this, as explained in 'Oracle SQL by Example' but the book does not tell me how to use case statements in Check constraints. This is what I want to learn
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user3414871 over 9 yearsOkay. This helps.. Thanks. What I was thinking was if grade is entered then the salary_scale would be automatically put in. Is that possible?
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Robert over 9 years@user3414871 Yes it's possible by using triggers or virtual columns as I mentioned above.
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user3414871 over 9 yearsOkay.. i'm not trying to assign values to the columns, just trying to ensure the values of the columns are either S1 or S2. i.e S1 if grade A
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Robert over 9 years@user3414871 Yes it's Alex Poole``s solution
CONSTRAINT ck_grade_scale CHECK((salary_grade BETWEEN 'A' AND 'D' AND salary_scale = 'S1') OR (salary_grade BETWEEN 'D' AND 'G' AND salary_scale = 'S2'))
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Alex Poole over 9 yearsThe first check on
salary_grade
alone isn't really needed either, sinceck_grade_scale
covers that too. -
Allan over 9 years@user3414871: Perhaps that book doesn't give you an example of this use because it's not a good use for
CASE
. -
David Faber over 9 yearsYes, you're probably right, but then I would have to change my
ELSE
in theCASE
. Strictly speaking too a regex is probably more expensive than one would like;BETWEEN
is better. -
user3414871 over 9 years@DavidFaber Thanks dude.. You been very helpful. It's a big learning curve when you just getting into SQL. I thought that with only a few keywords it would be easy to learn but things are never as easy as they look