Whenever I am creating a table in Postgres, I like using SERIAL as primary key so that I don't do duplicates. But I have not been able to set a starting value for this. Let say I am creating student IDs that all have to be 8 digits, but SERIAL always starts from 1, how can I choose the starting value and then just increment from there? I have looked through the answered questions but I couldn't find the answer. Thanks!
Use setval() to change the sequence and pg_get_serial_sequence() to obtain the name of the sequence:
select setval(pg_get_serial_sequence(table_name, column_name), 9999999);
Related
I have a question I know this was posted many times but I didn't find an answer to my problem. The problem is that I have a table and a column "id" I want it to be unique number just as normal. This type of column is serial and the next value after each insert is coming from a sequence so everything seems to be all right but it still sometimes shows this error. I don't know why. In the documentation, it says the sequence is foolproof and always works. If I add a UNIQUE constraint to that column will it help? I worked before many times on Postres but this error is showing for me for the first time. I did everything as normal and I never had this problem before. Can you help me to find the answer that can be used in the future for all tables that will be created? Let's say we have something easy like this:
CREATE TABLE comments
(
id serial NOT NULL,
some_column text NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT id_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id)
)
WITH (
OIDS=FALSE
);
ALTER TABLE interesting.comments OWNER TO postgres;
If i add:
ALTER TABLE comments ADD CONSTRAINT id_id_key UNIQUE(id)
Will if be enough or is there some other thing that should be done?
This article explains that your sequence might be out of sync and that you have to manually bring it back in sync.
An excerpt from the article in case the URL changes:
If you get this message when trying to insert data into a PostgreSQL
database:
ERROR: duplicate key violates unique constraint
That likely means that the primary key sequence in the table you're
working with has somehow become out of sync, likely because of a mass
import process (or something along those lines). Call it a "bug by
design", but it seems that you have to manually reset the a primary
key index after restoring from a dump file. At any rate, to see if
your values are out of sync, run these two commands:
SELECT MAX(the_primary_key) FROM the_table;
SELECT nextval('the_primary_key_sequence');
If the first value is higher than the second value, your sequence is
out of sync. Back up your PG database (just in case), then run this command:
SELECT setval('the_primary_key_sequence', (SELECT MAX(the_primary_key) FROM the_table)+1);
That will set the sequence to the next available value that's higher
than any existing primary key in the sequence.
Intro
I also encountered this problem and the solution proposed by #adamo was basically the right solution. However, I had to invest a lot of time in the details, which is why I am now writing a new answer in order to save this time for others.
Case
My case was as follows: There was a table that was filled with data using an app. Now a new entry had to be inserted manually via SQL. After that the sequence was out of sync and no more records could be inserted via the app.
Solution
As mentioned in the answer from #adamo, the sequence must be synchronized manually. For this purpose the name of the sequence is needed. For Postgres, the name of the sequence can be determined with the command PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE. Most examples use lower case table names. In my case the tables were created by an ORM middleware (like Hibernate or Entity Framework Core etc.) and their names all started with a capital letter.
In an e-mail from 2004 (link) I got the right hint.
(Let's assume for all examples, that Foo is the table's name and Foo_id the related column.)
Command to get the sequence name:
SELECT PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Foo"', 'Foo_id');
So, the table name must be in double quotes, surrounded by single quotes.
1. Validate, that the sequence is out-of-sync
SELECT CURRVAL(PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Foo"', 'Foo_id')) AS "Current Value", MAX("Foo_id") AS "Max Value" FROM "Foo";
When the Current Value is less than Max Value, your sequence is out-of-sync.
2. Correction
SELECT SETVAL((SELECT PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Foo"', 'Foo_id')), (SELECT (MAX("Foo_id") + 1) FROM "Foo"), FALSE);
Replace the table_name to your actual name of the table.
Gives the current last id for the table. Note it that for next step.
SELECT MAX(id) FROM table_name;
Get the next id sequence according to postgresql. Make sure this id is higher than the current max id we get from step 1
SELECT nextVal('"table_name_id_seq"');
if it's not higher than then use this step 3 to update the next sequence.
SELECT setval('"table_name_id_seq"', (SELECT MAX(id) FROM table_name)+1);
The primary key is already protecting you from inserting duplicate values, as you're experiencing when you get that error. Adding another unique constraint isn't necessary to do that.
The "duplicate key" error is telling you that the work was not done because it would produce a duplicate key, not that it discovered a duplicate key already commited to the table.
For future searchs, use ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING.
Referrence - https://www.calazan.com/how-to-reset-the-primary-key-sequence-in-postgresql-with-django/
I had the same problem try this:
python manage.py sqlsequencereset table_name
Eg:
python manage.py sqlsequencereset auth
you need to run this in production settings(if you have)
and you need Postgres installed to run this on the server
From http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/interactive/datatype.html
Note: Prior to PostgreSQL 7.3, serial implied UNIQUE. This is no longer automatic. If you wish a serial column to be in a unique constraint or a primary key, it must now be specified, same as with any other data type.
In my case carate table script is:
CREATE TABLE public."Survey_symptom_binds"
(
id integer NOT NULL DEFAULT nextval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"'::regclass),
survey_id integer,
"order" smallint,
symptom_id integer,
CONSTRAINT "Survey_symptom_binds_pkey" PRIMARY KEY (id)
)
SO:
SELECT nextval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"'::regclass),
MAX(id)
FROM public."Survey_symptom_binds";
SELECT nextval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"'::regclass) less than MAX(id) !!!
Try to fix the proble:
SELECT setval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"', (SELECT MAX(id) FROM public."Survey_symptom_binds")+1);
Good Luck every one!
I had the same problem. It was because of the type of my relations. I had a table property which related to both states and cities. So, at first I had a relation from property to states as OneToOne, and the same for cities. And I had the same error "duplicate key violates unique constraint". That means that: I can only have one property related to one state and city. But that doesnt make sense, because a city can have multiple properties. So the problem is the relation. The relation should be ManyToOne. Many properties to One city
Table name started with a capital letter if tables were created by an ORM middleware (like Hibernate or Entity Framework Core etc.)
SELECT setval('"Table_name_Id_seq"', (SELECT MAX("Id") FROM "Table_name") + 1)
WHERE
NOT EXISTS (
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT CURRVAL(PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Table_name"', 'Id')) AS seq, MAX("Id") AS max_id
FROM "Table_name") AS seq_table
WHERE seq > max_id
)
try that CLI
it's just a suggestion to enhance the adamo code (thanks a lot adamo)
SELECT setval('tableName_columnName_seq', (SELECT MAX(columnName) FROM tableName));
For programatically solution at Django. Based on Paolo Melchiorre's answer, I wrote a chunk as a function to be called before any .save()
from django.db import connection
def setSqlCursor(db_table):
sql = """SELECT pg_catalog.setval(pg_get_serial_sequence('"""+db_table+"""', 'id'), MAX(id)) FROM """+db_table+""";"""
with connection.cursor() as cursor:
cursor.execute(sql)
I have similar problem but I solved it by removing all the foreign key in my Postgresql
I am trying to increment sequence on id of table. But I don't know sequence name because it's default sequence that postgresql generated.
I have read questions like these:
ALTER postgreSQL sequence
but they don't really answer my question because I don't know name of sequence. I tried:
ALTER SEQUENCE table_name_id_seq INCREMENT BY 1;
but it didn't work.
You can retreive the name of the sequence from the table/column names.
Then you can use setval to set the current value. In the example below, it sets the value to the biggest found value (next one will be +1)
SELECT setval(
pg_get_serial_sequence('myschema.mytable','mycolumn'),
max(mycolumn))
FROM myschema.mytable;
I made a primary key called t_id in the table of DB by using the query t_id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY.
At the very first time, it started well on 1. Then I deleted all the data and from then, it starts on 2 even though I set it on 1.
Here's the screenshot of what I did on seq - definition on pgAdmin4 :
Anyone has an idea where is the problem ?
Thanks a lot!!
The current value is 1, so the next value that will be served is 2. This is expected.
The doc is helpful on this topic.
Remember that the sequence will always give you a value that was not used before. So if you insert 10 rows, then delete them, the next sequence value will still be 11 (the last served value + 1)
To reset the sequence so the next time it is called it returns 1, you would do
SELECT setval('my_sequence_name', 1, false);
Your t_id is a primary key auto incremented serial type. These are sequenced, you can set the value of the next sequence using the sequence manipulation functions.
Postgres sequence manipulation functions documentation
This question already has answers here:
PostgreSQL, reconfigure existing table, changing primary key to type=serial
(1 answer)
How to convert primary key from integer to serial?
(1 answer)
Closed 3 years ago.
Problem
I can add an auto-incrementing primary key to a pre-existing column in an empty table in postgres, but I wonder if it can be done more efficiently.
What I've Done
Before the table gets populated, I need to alter a column to add an auto-incrementing primary key. Similar to the answer to this question, the following will work (assuming the table is named test and the column in question is named col1):
ALTER TABLE test ADD PRIMARY KEY (col1);
CREATE SEQUENCE seq OWNED BY test.col1;
ALTER TABLE test ALTER COLUMN col1 SET DEFAULT nextval('seq');
UPDATE test SET col1 = nextval('seq');
Four lines is far from the end of the world. However, as per that answer, this can be done in one line if we're adding a column rather than altering a pre-existing one:
ALTER TABLE test ADD COLUMN col1 SERIAL PRIMARY KEY;
Question
Is there a way to do that in one line, but for a pre-existing column? It seems like SERIAL is limited to when one adds a new column, but I figured it can't hurt to ask. My naive attempts included things like:
ALTER TABLE test ALTER COLUMN col1 SERIAL PRIMARY KEY;
ALTER TABLE test ADD SERIAL PRIMARY KEY (col1);
Thanks!
EDIT: This got marked as a duplicate right off the bat, though I read both of those questions coming into this. I feel like they both use the same methodology that I'm already using (unless I misunderstood what was at play), and my question is about seeing if there's a more efficient way to do it, especially since there is in new column creation.
I have a question I know this was posted many times but I didn't find an answer to my problem. The problem is that I have a table and a column "id" I want it to be unique number just as normal. This type of column is serial and the next value after each insert is coming from a sequence so everything seems to be all right but it still sometimes shows this error. I don't know why. In the documentation, it says the sequence is foolproof and always works. If I add a UNIQUE constraint to that column will it help? I worked before many times on Postres but this error is showing for me for the first time. I did everything as normal and I never had this problem before. Can you help me to find the answer that can be used in the future for all tables that will be created? Let's say we have something easy like this:
CREATE TABLE comments
(
id serial NOT NULL,
some_column text NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT id_pkey PRIMARY KEY (id)
)
WITH (
OIDS=FALSE
);
ALTER TABLE interesting.comments OWNER TO postgres;
If i add:
ALTER TABLE comments ADD CONSTRAINT id_id_key UNIQUE(id)
Will if be enough or is there some other thing that should be done?
This article explains that your sequence might be out of sync and that you have to manually bring it back in sync.
An excerpt from the article in case the URL changes:
If you get this message when trying to insert data into a PostgreSQL
database:
ERROR: duplicate key violates unique constraint
That likely means that the primary key sequence in the table you're
working with has somehow become out of sync, likely because of a mass
import process (or something along those lines). Call it a "bug by
design", but it seems that you have to manually reset the a primary
key index after restoring from a dump file. At any rate, to see if
your values are out of sync, run these two commands:
SELECT MAX(the_primary_key) FROM the_table;
SELECT nextval('the_primary_key_sequence');
If the first value is higher than the second value, your sequence is
out of sync. Back up your PG database (just in case), then run this command:
SELECT setval('the_primary_key_sequence', (SELECT MAX(the_primary_key) FROM the_table)+1);
That will set the sequence to the next available value that's higher
than any existing primary key in the sequence.
Intro
I also encountered this problem and the solution proposed by #adamo was basically the right solution. However, I had to invest a lot of time in the details, which is why I am now writing a new answer in order to save this time for others.
Case
My case was as follows: There was a table that was filled with data using an app. Now a new entry had to be inserted manually via SQL. After that the sequence was out of sync and no more records could be inserted via the app.
Solution
As mentioned in the answer from #adamo, the sequence must be synchronized manually. For this purpose the name of the sequence is needed. For Postgres, the name of the sequence can be determined with the command PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE. Most examples use lower case table names. In my case the tables were created by an ORM middleware (like Hibernate or Entity Framework Core etc.) and their names all started with a capital letter.
In an e-mail from 2004 (link) I got the right hint.
(Let's assume for all examples, that Foo is the table's name and Foo_id the related column.)
Command to get the sequence name:
SELECT PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Foo"', 'Foo_id');
So, the table name must be in double quotes, surrounded by single quotes.
1. Validate, that the sequence is out-of-sync
SELECT CURRVAL(PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Foo"', 'Foo_id')) AS "Current Value", MAX("Foo_id") AS "Max Value" FROM "Foo";
When the Current Value is less than Max Value, your sequence is out-of-sync.
2. Correction
SELECT SETVAL((SELECT PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Foo"', 'Foo_id')), (SELECT (MAX("Foo_id") + 1) FROM "Foo"), FALSE);
Replace the table_name to your actual name of the table.
Gives the current last id for the table. Note it that for next step.
SELECT MAX(id) FROM table_name;
Get the next id sequence according to postgresql. Make sure this id is higher than the current max id we get from step 1
SELECT nextVal('"table_name_id_seq"');
if it's not higher than then use this step 3 to update the next sequence.
SELECT setval('"table_name_id_seq"', (SELECT MAX(id) FROM table_name)+1);
The primary key is already protecting you from inserting duplicate values, as you're experiencing when you get that error. Adding another unique constraint isn't necessary to do that.
The "duplicate key" error is telling you that the work was not done because it would produce a duplicate key, not that it discovered a duplicate key already commited to the table.
For future searchs, use ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING.
Referrence - https://www.calazan.com/how-to-reset-the-primary-key-sequence-in-postgresql-with-django/
I had the same problem try this:
python manage.py sqlsequencereset table_name
Eg:
python manage.py sqlsequencereset auth
you need to run this in production settings(if you have)
and you need Postgres installed to run this on the server
From http://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/interactive/datatype.html
Note: Prior to PostgreSQL 7.3, serial implied UNIQUE. This is no longer automatic. If you wish a serial column to be in a unique constraint or a primary key, it must now be specified, same as with any other data type.
In my case carate table script is:
CREATE TABLE public."Survey_symptom_binds"
(
id integer NOT NULL DEFAULT nextval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"'::regclass),
survey_id integer,
"order" smallint,
symptom_id integer,
CONSTRAINT "Survey_symptom_binds_pkey" PRIMARY KEY (id)
)
SO:
SELECT nextval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"'::regclass),
MAX(id)
FROM public."Survey_symptom_binds";
SELECT nextval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"'::regclass) less than MAX(id) !!!
Try to fix the proble:
SELECT setval('"Survey_symptom_binds_id_seq"', (SELECT MAX(id) FROM public."Survey_symptom_binds")+1);
Good Luck every one!
I had the same problem. It was because of the type of my relations. I had a table property which related to both states and cities. So, at first I had a relation from property to states as OneToOne, and the same for cities. And I had the same error "duplicate key violates unique constraint". That means that: I can only have one property related to one state and city. But that doesnt make sense, because a city can have multiple properties. So the problem is the relation. The relation should be ManyToOne. Many properties to One city
Table name started with a capital letter if tables were created by an ORM middleware (like Hibernate or Entity Framework Core etc.)
SELECT setval('"Table_name_Id_seq"', (SELECT MAX("Id") FROM "Table_name") + 1)
WHERE
NOT EXISTS (
SELECT *
FROM (SELECT CURRVAL(PG_GET_SERIAL_SEQUENCE('"Table_name"', 'Id')) AS seq, MAX("Id") AS max_id
FROM "Table_name") AS seq_table
WHERE seq > max_id
)
try that CLI
it's just a suggestion to enhance the adamo code (thanks a lot adamo)
SELECT setval('tableName_columnName_seq', (SELECT MAX(columnName) FROM tableName));
For programatically solution at Django. Based on Paolo Melchiorre's answer, I wrote a chunk as a function to be called before any .save()
from django.db import connection
def setSqlCursor(db_table):
sql = """SELECT pg_catalog.setval(pg_get_serial_sequence('"""+db_table+"""', 'id'), MAX(id)) FROM """+db_table+""";"""
with connection.cursor() as cursor:
cursor.execute(sql)
I have similar problem but I solved it by removing all the foreign key in my Postgresql