Add primary key to an existing table

Question

Add primary key to an existing table

mattech06

SSCrazy

Points: 2484
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July 2, 2014 at 8:26 am

#396995

Hi,
I created a table in my Azure SQL Database, Part of the code is here..
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[DEVAppointments](
[ClusterInd] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) CONSTRAINT PK_CI_DEVAppt PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED NOT NULL,
[dbPatFlowArcCnt] [int] NOT NULL,
I now wish to make the column dbPatFlowArcCnt a Primary Key column too but don't wish to drop the table as it has lots of data in it.
When I use this sql however..
alter table DEVAppointments drop CONSTRAINT PK_CI_DEVAppt
alter table DEVAppointments add primary key (PK_CI_DEVAppt, dbPatFlowArcCnt)
I get this error
Msg 40054, Level 16, State 2, Line 9
Tables without a clustered index are not supported in this version of SQL Server. Please create a clustered index and try again.
Msg 3727, Level 16, State 0, Line 9
Could not drop constraint. See previous errors.
thanks,

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Neil Burton SSC-Insane Points: 22999 More actions · Answer 1

I don't think you can change a primary key on Azure if the table has data in it. There's quite a few suggestions out there for workarounds but unfortunately it's not as simple as dropping the old one and creating a new one.

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......................... SSC Eights! Points: 983 More actions · Answer 2

Since Azure requires a clustered index for every table with data in it, you can't alter it to change the clustered index.

Sean Lange SSC Guru Points: 286590 More actions · Answer 3

What you will need to do is create a new table with the structure you want. Then copy all the data from the current table into the new one. Drop the current table. Rename the new table to the name of the current one.

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Grant Fritchey SSC Guru Points: 398882 More actions · Answer 4

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