How do I create a multiple column unique constraint in SQL Server

Question

I have a table that contains, for example, two fields that I want to make unique within the database. For example:

create table Subscriber (
    ID int not null         


        

Answer 1

I assume that only way to enter data into that table is through SPs, If that's the case you can implement some logic in your insert and update SPs to find if the values you are going to insert / update is already exists in that table or not.

Something like this

create proc spInsert
(
    @DataSetId int,
    @Email nvarchar(100)
)
as
begin

if exists (select * from tabaleName where DataSetId = @DataSetId and Email = @Email)
    select -1 -- Duplicacy flag
else
begin
    -- insert logic here
    select 1 -- success flag
end

end
GO


create proc spUpdate
(
   @ID int,
   @DataSetId int,
   @Email nvarchar(100)
)
as
begin

if exists 
(select * from tabaleName where DataSetId = @DataSetId and Email = @Email and ID <> @ID)
    select -1 -- Duplicacy flag
else
begin
    -- insert logic here
    select 1 -- success flag
end

end
GO

Answer 2

but I found that this had quite a significant impact on search times (when searching for an email address for example

The index you defined on (DataSetId, Email) cannot be used for searches based on email. If you would create an index with the Email field at the leftmost position, it could be used:

CREATE UNIQUE NONCLUSTERED INDEX IX_Subscriber_Email
   ON Subscriber (Email, DataSetId);

This index would server both as a unique constraint enforcement and as a means to quickly search for an email. This index though cannot be used to quickly search for a specific DataSetId.

The gist of it if is that whenever you define a multikey index, it can be used only for searches in the order of the keys. An index on (A, B, C) can be used to seek values on column A, for searching values on both A and B or to search values on all three columns A, B and C. However it cannot be used to search values on B or on C alone.