Thursday 8 November 2018

MySQL Cannot Add Foreign Key Constraint


So I'm trying to add Foreign Key constraints to my database as a project requirement and it worked the first time or two on different tables, but I have two tables on which I get an error when trying to add the Foreign Key Constraints. The error message that I get is:
ERROR 1215 (HY000): Cannot add foreign key constraint
This is the SQL I'm using to create the tables, the two offending tables are Patient and Appointment.
SET @OLD_UNIQUE_CHECKS=@@UNIQUE_CHECKS, UNIQUE_CHECKS=0;
SET @OLD_FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=@@FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS, FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=1;
SET @OLD_SQL_MODE=@@SQL_MODE, SQL_MODE='TRADITIONAL,ALLOW_INVALID_DATES';

CREATE SCHEMA IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice` DEFAULT CHARACTER SET utf8 ;
USE `doctorsoffice` ;

-- -----------------------------------------------------
-- Table `doctorsoffice`.`doctor`
-- -----------------------------------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`doctor` ;

CREATE  TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`doctor` (
  `DoctorID` INT(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
  `FName` VARCHAR(20) NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  `LName` VARCHAR(20) NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  `Gender` VARCHAR(1) NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  `Specialty` VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL DEFAULT 'General Practitioner' ,
  UNIQUE INDEX `DoctorID` (`DoctorID` ASC) ,
  PRIMARY KEY (`DoctorID`) )
ENGINE = InnoDB
DEFAULT CHARACTER SET = utf8;


-- -----------------------------------------------------
-- Table `doctorsoffice`.`medicalhistory`
-- -----------------------------------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`medicalhistory` ;

CREATE  TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`medicalhistory` (
  `MedicalHistoryID` INT(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
  `Allergies` TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  `Medications` TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  `ExistingConditions` TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  `Misc` TEXT NULL DEFAULT NULL ,
  UNIQUE INDEX `MedicalHistoryID` (`MedicalHistoryID` ASC) ,
  PRIMARY KEY (`MedicalHistoryID`) )
ENGINE = InnoDB
DEFAULT CHARACTER SET = utf8;


-- -----------------------------------------------------
-- Table `doctorsoffice`.`Patient`
-- -----------------------------------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`Patient` ;

CREATE  TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`Patient` (
  `PatientID` INT unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
  `FName` VARCHAR(30) NULL ,
  `LName` VARCHAR(45) NULL ,
  `Gender` CHAR NULL ,
  `DOB` DATE NULL ,
  `SSN` DOUBLE NULL ,
  `MedicalHistory` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL,
  `PrimaryPhysician` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`PatientID`) ,
  UNIQUE INDEX `PatientID_UNIQUE` (`PatientID` ASC) ,
  CONSTRAINT `FK_MedicalHistory`
    FOREIGN KEY (`MEdicalHistory` )
    REFERENCES `doctorsoffice`.`medicalhistory` (`MedicalHistoryID` )
    ON DELETE CASCADE
    ON UPDATE CASCADE,
  CONSTRAINT `FK_PrimaryPhysician`
    FOREIGN KEY (`PrimaryPhysician` )
    REFERENCES `doctorsoffice`.`doctor` (`DoctorID` )
    ON DELETE CASCADE
    ON UPDATE CASCADE)
ENGINE = InnoDB;


-- -----------------------------------------------------
-- Table `doctorsoffice`.`Appointment`
-- -----------------------------------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`Appointment` ;

CREATE  TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`Appointment` (
  `AppointmentID` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
  `Date` DATE NULL ,
  `Time` TIME NULL ,
  `Patient` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL,
  `Doctor` smallint(5) unsigned NOT NULL,
  PRIMARY KEY (`AppointmentID`) ,
  UNIQUE INDEX `AppointmentID_UNIQUE` (`AppointmentID` ASC) ,
  CONSTRAINT `FK_Patient`
    FOREIGN KEY (`Patient` )
    REFERENCES `doctorsoffice`.`Patient` (`PatientID` )
    ON DELETE CASCADE
    ON UPDATE CASCADE,
  CONSTRAINT `FK_Doctor`
    FOREIGN KEY (`Doctor` )
    REFERENCES `doctorsoffice`.`doctor` (`DoctorID` )
    ON DELETE CASCADE
    ON UPDATE CASCADE)
ENGINE = InnoDB;


-- -----------------------------------------------------
-- Table `doctorsoffice`.`InsuranceCompany`
-- -----------------------------------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`InsuranceCompany` ;

CREATE  TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`InsuranceCompany` (
  `InsuranceID` smallint(5) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
  `Name` VARCHAR(50) NULL ,
  `Phone` DOUBLE NULL ,
  PRIMARY KEY (`InsuranceID`) ,
  UNIQUE INDEX `InsuranceID_UNIQUE` (`InsuranceID` ASC) )
ENGINE = InnoDB;


-- -----------------------------------------------------
-- Table `doctorsoffice`.`PatientInsurance`
-- -----------------------------------------------------
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`PatientInsurance` ;

CREATE  TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `doctorsoffice`.`PatientInsurance` (
  `PolicyHolder` smallint(5) NOT NULL ,
  `InsuranceCompany` smallint(5) NOT NULL ,
  `CoPay` INT NOT NULL DEFAULT 5 ,
  `PolicyNumber` smallint(5) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT ,
  PRIMARY KEY (`PolicyNumber`) ,
  UNIQUE INDEX `PolicyNumber_UNIQUE` (`PolicyNumber` ASC) ,
  CONSTRAINT `FK_PolicyHolder`
    FOREIGN KEY (`PolicyHolder` )
    REFERENCES `doctorsoffice`.`Patient` (`PatientID` )
    ON DELETE CASCADE
    ON UPDATE CASCADE,
  CONSTRAINT `FK_InsuranceCompany`
    FOREIGN KEY (`InsuranceCompany` )
    REFERENCES `doctorsoffice`.`InsuranceCompany` (`InsuranceID` )
    ON DELETE CASCADE
    ON UPDATE CASCADE)
ENGINE = InnoDB;

USE `doctorsoffice` ;


SET SQL_MODE=@OLD_SQL_MODE;
SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=@OLD_FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS;
SET UNIQUE_CHECKS=@OLD_UNIQUE_CHECKS;

Answers



To find the specific error run this:
SHOW ENGINE INNODB STATUS;
And look in the LATEST FOREIGN KEY ERROR section.
The data type for the child column must match the parent column exactly. For example, since medicalhistory.MedicalHistoryID is an INT, Patient.MedicalHistory also needs to be an INT, not a SMALLINT.
Also, you should run the query set foreign_key_checks=0 before running the DDL so you can create the tables in an arbitrary order rather than needing to create all parent tables before the relevant child tables.



  • Engine should be the same e.g. InnoDB
  • Datatype should be the same, and with same length. e.g. VARCHAR(20)
  • Collation Columns charset should be the same. e.g. utf8
    Watchout: Even if your tables have same Collation, columns still could have different one.
  • Unique - Foreign key should refer to field that is unique (usually primary key) in the reference table.



Confirm that the character encoding and collation for the two tables is the same.
In my own case, one of the tables was using utf8 and the other was using latin1.
I had another case where the encoding was the same but the collation different. One utf8_general_ci the other utf8_unicode_ci
You can run this command to set the encoding and collation for a table.
ALTER TABLE tablename CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_unicode_ci;
I hope this helps someone.



To set a FOREIGN KEY in Table B you must set a KEY in the table A.
In table A: INDEX id (id)
And then in the table B,
CONSTRAINT `FK_id` FOREIGN KEY (`id`) REFERENCES `table-A` (`id`)



I had same problem and the solution was very simple. Solution : foreign keys declared in table should not set to be not null.
reference : If you specify a SET NULL action, make sure that you have not declared the columns in the child table as NOT NULL. (ref )



I had a similar error in creating foreign key in a Many to Many table where the primary key consisted of 2 foreign keys and another normal column. I fixed the issue by correcting the referenced table name i.e. company, as shown in the corrected code below:
create table company_life_cycle__history -- (M-M)
(
company_life_cycle_id tinyint unsigned not null,
Foreign Key (company_life_cycle_id) references company_life_cycle(id) ON DELETE    CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE,
company_id MEDIUMINT unsigned not null,
Foreign Key (company_id) references company(id) ON DELETE CASCADE ON UPDATE CASCADE,
activity_on date NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY pk_company_life_cycle_history (company_life_cycle_id, company_id,activity_on),
created_on datetime DEFAULT NULL,
updated_on datetime DEFAULT NULL,
created_by varchar(50) DEFAULT NULL,
updated_by varchar(50) DEFAULT NULL
);



Had a similar error, but in my case I was missing to declare the pk as auto_increment.
Just in case it could be helpful to anyone



My solution is maybe a little embarrassing and tells the tale of why you should sometimes look at what you have in front of you instead of these posts :)
I had ran a forward engineer before, which failed, so that meant that my database already had a few tables, then i have been sitting trying to fix foreign key contraints failures trying to make sure that everything was perfect, but it ran up against the tables previously created, so it was to no prevail.



One additional cause of this error is when your tables or columns contain reserved keywords:
Sometimes one does forget these.

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