Question

I’m working with SQL Server 2008 and am trying to build a new application. I’ve created all my tables and foreign key constraints and then a new requirement came up for me to store more data. I’d like to be able to just add the fields to the table, but SQL Server Management Studio is telling me that the table can’t be change, it has to be dropped and recreated, which I understand. The problem is that the table can’t be dropped while there are foreign key constraints against it. I’d like to not have to drop the foreign key constraints and then re-add them one at a time just to add in this new field. Is there another way to handle this scenario?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Add your new columns with a T-SQL ALTER TABLE command instead of using the GUI interface.

ALTER TABLE YourTable
    ADD New_Column_1 VARCHAR(20) NULL,
        New_Column_2 INT NULL;