Foreign Keys (Visual Database Tools)

A foreign key constraint works in conjunction with primary key or unique constraints to enforce referential integrity among specified tables. For example, you can place a foreign key constraint on the title_id column in the publishers table to ensure that a value entered in that column matches an existing value in the title_id column of the titles table.

For more information about creating relationships, see How to: Create Relationships Between Tables and Working with Relationships.

Related Topics

For information about	See
Which columns participate in the foreign key side of a relationship	How to: View Foreign Key Properties
Changing which columns are related to columns in the primary key table	How to: Modify Foreign Key Relationships
Checking existing data when creating a relationship	How to: Check Existing Data when Creating a Relationship
Disabling a foreign key constraint during INSERT and UPDATE transactions	How to: Disable Foreign Key Constraints with INSERT and UPDATE Statements
Disabling a foreign key constraint during replication of the table	How to: Disable Foreign Key Constraints for Replication
Removing the requirement to enforce referential integrity between primary key columns and the related columns in another table	How to: Delete Foreign Key Relationships

See Also

Reference

Foreign Key Relationships Dialog Box

Other Resources

Working with Relationships

Working with Keys