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DecSQL Server Naming Conventions and Standards
31 Aug 2022
Beginner
235K Views
5 min read
In programming, we have many naming conventions like camelCase, PascalCase, under_scores, etc. But each and every organization has its own naming conventions. In this article, I would like to share some common and useful naming conventions and standards that you should use while programming with SQL Server.
Table
Tables are used to store data in the database. The naming conventions for a table may have a "tbl" prefix, followed by the table name. Moreover, TableName should be plural. The syntax should be "tbl<TableName>".
Examples are below:
tblEmployees tblOrders tblProducts
Primary Key Constraint
Primary key is a field or a set of fields in the database table that uniquely identify records in the database table. A table can have only one primary key. The naming conventions for a primary key constraint should have a "PK_" prefix, followed by the table name. The syntax should be "PK_<TableName>".
Examples are below:
PK_Employees PK_Orders PK_Products
Foreign Key Constraint
Foreign key is a field in the database table that is a primary key in other tables. The naming conventions for a foreign key constraint should have an "FK_" prefix, followed by the target table name, followed by the source table name. The syntax should be "FK_<TargetTable>_<SourceTable>".
Examples are below:
FK_Orders_Employees FK_Items_Products
Unique Key Constraint
Unique key is a set of one or more fields/columns of a table that uniquely identify a record in a database table. It is like Primary key but it can accept only one null value. The naming conventions for unique key constraints should have a "UQ_" prefix, followed by the table name, followed by the column name. The syntax for a unique constraint should be "UQ_<TableName>_<ColumnName(s)>".
Examples are below:
UQ_Employees_EmailID UQ_Items_Code
Default Constraint
Default Constraints insert a default value into the column when no value is provided for that column. The syntax for a unique constraint should be "DF_<TableName>_<ColumnName>".
Examples are below:
DF_Employees_IsActive DF_Employees_CreateDate
Check Constraint
Check Constraints defines a business rule on a column in the database table that each row of the table must follow this rule. The syntax for a unique constraint should be "CHK_<TableName>_<ColumnName>".
Examples are below:
CHK_Employees_Salary CHK_Employees_DOB
User Defined Stored Procedures
Stored Procedures are executed on the server side and perform a set of actions, before returning the results to the client side. This allows a set of actions to be executed with minimum time and also reduce the network traffic. While creating user-defined stored procedures we should avoid the prefix "sp_" with the name of the procedure. Since "sp_" prefix is already fixed for system-defined stored procedures. The naming conventions for user-defined stored procedure may have a "usp_" prefix, followed by the action and objects of the procedure. The syntax for a user-defined stored procedure should be "usp_<Action>_<Object>".
Examples are below:
usp_Insert_Employees usp_View_EmployeeOrders
User Defined Functions
Functions are a set of SQL statements that accept only input parameters, perform actions and return the result.The function can return an only single value or a table. The naming conventions for user-defined functions may have an "fn_" prefix, followed by its action. The syntax should be "fn_<Action>".
Examples are below:
fn_CalulateTax fn_CalculateAge
Views
Views are like a virtual table that can be made over one or more database tables. Generally, we put those columns in view that we need to retrieve/query again and again. The naming conventions for a view should have a "vw_" prefix, followed by the namespace, results. The syntax should be "vw_<Result>".
Examples are below:
vw_EmpOrderDetails vw_SalesProductDetails
Triggers
Triggers are a database object. Basically, these are a special type of stored procedure that is automatically fired/executed when a DDL or DML command statement related to the trigger is executed. The naming conventions for a trigger should have a "trg_" prefix, followed by the action, and the table name. The syntax should be "trg_<Action>_<TableName>".
Examples are below:
trg_Ins_Employee trg_Upd_Employee trg_Del_Employee
Indexes
Indexes are database objects that help the SQL Server query engine to find the desired data. Indexes may be attached to tables or views. The naming conventions for an index should have an "IX_" prefix, followed by the table name and columns. The syntax should be "IX_<TableName>_<Column(s)>”.
Examples are below:
IX_Employee_Name IX_Employee_NameMobileNo
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What do you think?
I hope you will enjoy these tips while programming with SQL Server. I would like to have feedback from my blog readers. Your valuable feedback, question, or comments about this article are always welcome.
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