If you get error message 4982 in SQL Server, it’s because your source table doesn’t have a constraint that restricts data to only the range supported by the partition that you’re trying to switch to.

Example of Error

Here’s what the error looks like:

Msg 4982, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
ALTER TABLE SWITCH statement failed. Check constraints of source table 'Test.dbo.OrdersOld' allow values that are not allowed by range defined by partition 3 on target table 'Test.dbo.OrdersNew'.

The exact wording will depend on your table names, the partition, environment, etc.

When you try to switch data to a new partition, you want to be sure that the data adheres to the range of that partition. For example, if your partition has a range of 1 to 10, you don’t want to accidentally put values between 11 and 20 in there.

SQL Server wants to be sure too, and that’s why you get this error. When you try switching the data, SQL Server looks at the source table for a CHECK constraint that restricts the data to the range specified in the destination partition. If it doesn’t find one, you get this error.

To fix this, add a CHECK constraint to the source table, and make sure it restricts data to the range supported by the partition that you’re switching to.

Example of Problem Code

Here’s the code that caused the error:

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg1;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg1dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg1dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg1;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg2;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg2dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg2dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg2;
GO
ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg3;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg3dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg3dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg3;
GO
ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg4;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg4dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg4dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg4;
GO

CREATE PARTITION FUNCTION OrdersNewPartitionFunction (date)  
    AS RANGE RIGHT FOR VALUES (
        '20200201', 
        '20200301',
        '20200401'
    );
GO

CREATE PARTITION SCHEME OrdersNewPartitionScheme
    AS PARTITION OrdersNewPartitionFunction  
    TO (
        OrdersNewFg1,
        OrdersNewFg2,
        OrdersNewFg3,
        OrdersNewFg4
        );  
GO

CREATE TABLE OrdersOld (
    OrderDate date NOT NULL,
    OrderId int IDENTITY NOT NULL,
    OrderDesc varchar(255) NOT NULL,
    CONSTRAINT chkDate CHECK (OrderDate >= '20200301' AND OrderDate < '20200401'),
    CONSTRAINT PKOrdersOld PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED(OrderDate,OrderId)
    )
    ON OrdersNewFg3;
GO

INSERT INTO OrdersOld(OrderDate, OrderDesc) VALUES
    ('20200302', 'Cat food'),
    ('20200315', 'Water bowl'),
    ('20200318', 'Saddle for camel'),
    ('20200321', 'Dog biscuits'),
    ('20200328', 'Bigfoot shoes');
GO

CREATE TABLE OrdersNew (
    OrderDate date NOT NULL,
    OrderId int IDENTITY NOT NULL,
    OrderDesc varchar(255) NOT NULL
    )  
    ON OrdersNewPartitionScheme (OrderDate),
    CONSTRAINT PKOrdersNew PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED(OrderDate,OrderId);  
GO

ALTER TABLE OrdersOld
SWITCH TO OrdersNew PARTITION 3;

Result:

Msg 4982, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
ALTER TABLE SWITCH statement failed. Check constraints of source table 'Test.dbo.OrdersOld' allow values that are not allowed by range defined by partition 3 on target table 'Test.dbo.OrdersNew'.

Solution

Here’s the same code but this time with the appropriate CHECK constraint added.

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg1;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg1dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg1dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg1;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg2;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg2dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg2dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg2;
GO
ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg3;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg3dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg3dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg3;
GO
ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg4;
GO

ALTER DATABASE Test ADD FILE (  
    NAME = OrdersNewFg4dat,  
    FILENAME = '/var/opt/mssql/data/OrdersNewFg4dat.ndf',  
    SIZE = 5MB,  
    MAXSIZE = 100MB,  
    FILEGROWTH = 5MB
    )  
TO FILEGROUP OrdersNewFg4;
GO

CREATE PARTITION FUNCTION OrdersNewPartitionFunction (date)  
    AS RANGE RIGHT FOR VALUES (
        '20200201', 
        '20200301',
        '20200401'
    );
GO

CREATE PARTITION SCHEME OrdersNewPartitionScheme
    AS PARTITION OrdersNewPartitionFunction  
    TO (
        OrdersNewFg1,
        OrdersNewFg2,
        OrdersNewFg3,
        OrdersNewFg4
        );  
GO

CREATE TABLE OrdersOld (
    OrderDate date NOT NULL,
    OrderId int IDENTITY NOT NULL,
    OrderDesc varchar(255) NOT NULL,
    CONSTRAINT chkDate CHECK (OrderDate >= '20200301' AND OrderDate < '20200401'),
    CONSTRAINT PKOrdersOld PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED(OrderDate, OrderId)
    )
    ON OrdersNewFg3;
GO

INSERT INTO OrdersOld(OrderDate, OrderDesc) VALUES
    ('20200302', 'Cat food'),
    ('20200315', 'Water bowl'),
    ('20200318', 'Saddle for camel'),
    ('20200321', 'Dog biscuits'),
    ('20200328', 'Bigfoot shoes');
GO

CREATE TABLE OrdersNew (
    OrderDate date NOT NULL,
    OrderId int IDENTITY NOT NULL,
    OrderDesc varchar(255) NOT NULL,
    CONSTRAINT PKOrdersNew PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED(OrderDate, OrderId)
    )  
    ON OrdersNewPartitionScheme (OrderDate);  
GO

ALTER TABLE OrdersOld
SWITCH TO OrdersNew PARTITION 3;

Result:

Commands completed successfully.

The data has now been successfully switched to the partition.