How do I find a default constraint using INFORMATION_SCHEMA?

Question

I\'m trying to test if a given default constraint exists. I don\'t want to use the sysobjects table, but the more standard INFORMATION_SCHEMA.

I\'ve used this to che

Answer 1

If you want to get a constraint by the column or table names, or you want to get all the constraints in the database, look to other answers. However, if you're just looking for exactly what the question asks, namely, to "test if a given default constraint exists ... by the name of the constraint", then there's a much easier way.

Here's a future-proof answer that doesn't use the sysobjects or other sys tables at all:

IF object_id('DF_CONSTRAINT_NAME', 'D') IS NOT NULL BEGIN
   -- constraint exists, work with it.
END

Answer 2

How about using a combination of CHECK_CONSTRAINTS and CONSTRAINT_COLUMN_USAGE:

    select columns.table_name,columns.column_name,columns.column_default,checks.constraint_name
          from information_schema.columns columns
             inner join information_schema.constraint_column_usage usage on 
                  columns.column_name = usage.column_name and columns.table_name = usage.table_name
             inner join information_schema.check_constraints checks on usage.constraint_name = checks.constraint_name
    where columns.column_default is not null

Answer 3

I am using folllowing script to retreive all defaults (sp_binddefaults) and all default constraint with following scripts:

SELECT 
    t.name AS TableName, c.name AS ColumnName, SC.COLUMN_DEFAULT AS DefaultValue, dc.name AS DefaultConstraintName
FROM  
    sys.all_columns c
    JOIN sys.tables t ON c.object_id = t.object_id
    JOIN sys.schemas s ON t.schema_id = s.schema_id
    LEFT JOIN sys.default_constraints dc ON c.default_object_id = dc.object_id
    LEFT JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS SC ON (SC.TABLE_NAME = t.name AND SC.COLUMN_NAME = c.name)
WHERE 
    SC.COLUMN_DEFAULT IS NOT NULL
    --WHERE t.name = '' and c.name = ''

Answer 4

As I understand it, default value constraints aren't part of the ISO standard, so they don't appear in INFORMATION_SCHEMA. INFORMATION_SCHEMA seems like the best choice for this kind of task because it is cross-platform, but if the information isn't available one should use the object catalog views (sys.*) instead of system table views, which are deprecated in SQL Server 2005 and later.

Below is pretty much the same as @user186476's answer. It returns the name of the default value constraint for a given column. (For non-SQL Server users, you need the name of the default in order to drop it, and if you don't name the default constraint yourself, SQL Server creates some crazy name like "DF_TableN_Colum_95AFE4B5". To make it easier to change your schema in the future, always explicitly name your constraints!)

-- returns name of a column's default value constraint 
SELECT
    default_constraints.name
FROM 
    sys.all_columns

        INNER JOIN
    sys.tables
        ON all_columns.object_id = tables.object_id

        INNER JOIN 
    sys.schemas
        ON tables.schema_id = schemas.schema_id

        INNER JOIN
    sys.default_constraints
        ON all_columns.default_object_id = default_constraints.object_id

WHERE 
        schemas.name = 'dbo'
    AND tables.name = 'tablename'
    AND all_columns.name = 'columnname'

Answer 5

I don't think it's in the INFORMATION_SCHEMA - you'll probably have to use sysobjects or related deprecated tables/views.

You would think there would be a type for this in INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS, but I don't see one.

Answer 6

You can use the following to narrow the results even more by specifying the Table Name and Column Name that the Default Constraint correlates to:

select * from sysobjects o 
inner join syscolumns c
on o.id = c.cdefault
inner join sysobjects t
on c.id = t.id
where o.xtype = 'D'
and c.name = 'Column_Name'
and t.name = 'Table_Name'