Example of ADD CONSTRAINT in SQL

Example: Alternative formulation for MAX_ENROLMENTS

ALTER TABLE IS_ENROLLED_ON

ADD CONSTRAINT MAX_ENROLMENTS

CHECK ((SELECT COUNT (*) FROM IS_ENROLLED_ON) <= 20000);

Explanation

• ALTER TABLE IS_ENROLLED_ON announces that an alteration to the definition of base table IS_ENROLLED_ON is being specified.
• ADD CONSTRAINT MAX_ENROLMENTS states that the alteration in question is the addition of something SQL calls a table constraint, and its name is MAX_ENROLMENTS. A table constraint is a condition that is required to be satisfied by every row appearing in the base table for which that constraint is defined. Thus, in general, it is an open expression of the kind that can appear as the condition of a WHERE clause. In this example the condition is in fact a closed expression-it contains no reference to a column of IS_ENROLLED_ON-and thus if it is satisfied by one row of that table, then it is satisfied by all of them.
• A table constraint is one that must be satisfied by every row of the applicable table, it is always satisfied when the applicable table is empty-there is no row for which the constraint fails. In the case at hand, this is not a problem, because obviously, when IS_ENROLLED_ON is empty, then its cardinality-zero-does not exceed 20,000. However, suppose a constraint was required to the effect that IS_ENROLLED_ON must never be empty. That could be achieved by changing <= 20000 to > 0 , but the same change to Example would be ineffectual: when IS_ENROLLED_ON is empty, it contains no row that fails to satisfy the constraint. That is why SQL is incomplete with respect to database integrity when support for CREATE ASSERTION is absent.