How primary key is different from Alternate Key?

Question

Primary keys - Contain one or more columns whose combined values uniquely identify every row in a table. Each table can have only one primary key. Alternate keys - Contain one or more columns whose combined values uniquely identify every row in a table. 8 дек. 2013 г.

What is the difference between Alternate Key and primary key?

Primary key values should be unique and non-null. There can be multiple Super keys and Candidate keys in a table, but there can be only one Primary key in a table. Alternate keys are those Candidate keys that were not chosen to be the Primary key of the table.

Can a primary key be Alternate Key?

A Primary Key can't be an Alternate Key. For a table with a single Candidate Key which has to be the Primary Key will not contain any Alternate Key. A Foreign Key can't be an Alternate Key as it is only used to reference another table.

Is Unique key and Alternate Key same?

Primary Key ==> Is used to uniquely identify records and doesn't allow NULL values. Unique Key ==> Is also used to uniquely identify records but does allow NULL Values per column combination. Alternate Key ==> Is another type of Unique key, which is used to identify each record uniquely. This is not a constraint.

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