Being able to ensure uniqueness in database tables is critical for maintaining data integrity. SQLite allows us to create unique indexes in order to enforce uniqueness, and it provides us with tools to check the unique indexes associated with a table.
This article outlines how to use the SQLite PRAGMA index_list() command to check a table for unique indexes.
SQLite is a lightweight, serverless SQL database engine commonly used for developing mobile applications, web applications, and embedded systems. Among its various functionalities, SQLite allows developers to create indexes, including unique indexes, to enhance data retrieval speed and enforce constraints on data integrity.
A unique index ensures that all values in a specific column, or combination of columns, are distinct, preventing duplicate entries.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the basics of unique indexes in SQLite, explore when and why to use them, and provide examples of how to create them.
Continue readingPartial indexing is a feature in many DBMSs, including SQLite, that allows developers to optimize database performance by creating indexes only for specific subsets of data. This can significantly reduce the index size and improve query speed, especially in cases where only a portion of the data is frequently queried.
In this article, we’ll look at how to create a partial index in SQLite, why it’s useful, and provide an example to illustrate its use.
Continue readingIn most relational database management systems (RDBMSs) the PRIMARY KEY is used to define the unique row identifier for a table. But in SQLite, not all primary keys are handled the same way when it comes to indexing.
Depending on how the primary key is defined in a table, it may or may not show up in the list of indexes returned by the PRAGMA index_list() command. In particular, when the primary key is an INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, SQLite doesn’t explicitly create a separate index for it.
This article will explain why this happens and provide examples with different types of primary key definitions.
Continue readingIn most DBMSs (including SQLite), we can create indexes to improve query performance by allowing faster access to data. However, you might occasionally need to rename an index for whatever reason, be it for clarity, consistency, organizational purposes, or some other reason.
Continue readingIf you’ve got an index in a SQLite database that you no longer need, you should probably get rid of it. Keeping unused indexes can be a drag on database performance, especially if your data is being regularly updated.
This article shows you how to delete an index in SQLite.
Continue readingIn database management systems (DBMSs) such as SQLite, indexes can be used to optimize the performance of queries, especially for larger datasets where querying can become time-consuming. An index allows the database to locate rows more quickly without scanning every row in a table.
This article explains how to create an index in SQLite, along with a simple example.
Continue readingThere are many ways to find the primary key column in SQL Server, but sometimes we might need to identify the name of the primary key’s index.
For example, we may want to identify the index’s name if we need to disable the primary key for some reason (we disable primary keys by disabling their index).
The query below can help if you need to find the name of a primary key’s index for a given table.
Continue readingThere are several ways that we can list all indexes in PostgreSQL. These include utilizing various system catalog views and psql commands. Below are five options for returning a list of indexes in PostgreSQL, along with examples of how to filter the results by index name, table name, and other criteria.
Sometimes when working with SQL Server, we need to get a quick list of indexes on a given table.
Here are three queries that return all indexes on a given table in SQL Server.
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