With MSSQL2005, can I truncate a table with foreign key constraints if I truncate the subtable first (the table with the primary key of the FK relationship)?

I know I can too

• Use DELETE without where clause, then RESEED identity (or)
• Delete FK, truncate the table, and recreate FK.

I don't think I can use any of the above options as long as I truncate the child table before my parents, but I received this error:

#1st floor

DELETE FROM TABLENAME
DBCC CHECKIDENT ('DATABASENAME.dbo.TABLENAME',RESEED, 0)

Note that if you have millions of records, this may not be what you want because it is very slow.

#2nd floor

This is my solution to this problem.I use it to change PK, but I think the same thing.Hopefully this will help)

PRINT 'Script starts'

DECLARE @foreign_key_name varchar(255)
DECLARE @keycnt int
DECLARE @foreign_table varchar(255)
DECLARE @foreign_column_1 varchar(255)
DECLARE @foreign_column_2 varchar(255)
DECLARE @primary_table varchar(255)
DECLARE @primary_column_1 varchar(255)
DECLARE @primary_column_2 varchar(255)
DECLARE @TablN varchar(255)

-->> Type the primary table name
SET @TablN = ''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------    ------------------------------
--Here will be created the temporary table with all reference FKs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRINT 'Creating the temporary table'
select cast(f.name  as varchar(255)) as foreign_key_name
    , r.keycnt
    , cast(c.name as  varchar(255)) as foreign_table
    , cast(fc.name as varchar(255)) as  foreign_column_1
    , cast(fc2.name as varchar(255)) as foreign_column_2
    , cast(p.name as varchar(255)) as primary_table
    , cast(rc.name as varchar(255))  as primary_column_1
    , cast(rc2.name as varchar(255)) as  primary_column_2
    into #ConTab
    from sysobjects f
    inner join sysobjects c on  f.parent_obj = c.id 
    inner join sysreferences r on f.id =  r.constid
    inner join sysobjects p on r.rkeyid = p.id
    inner  join syscolumns rc on r.rkeyid = rc.id and r.rkey1 = rc.colid
    inner  join syscolumns fc on r.fkeyid = fc.id and r.fkey1 = fc.colid
    left join  syscolumns rc2 on r.rkeyid = rc2.id and r.rkey2 = rc.colid
    left join  syscolumns fc2 on r.fkeyid = fc2.id and r.fkey2 = fc.colid
    where f.type =  'F' and p.name = @TablN
 ORDER BY cast(p.name as varchar(255))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Cursor, below, will drop all reference FKs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DECLARE @CURSOR CURSOR
/*Fill in cursor*/

PRINT 'Cursor 1 starting. All refernce FK will be droped'

SET @CURSOR  = CURSOR SCROLL
FOR
select foreign_key_name
    , keycnt
    , foreign_table
    , foreign_column_1
    , foreign_column_2
    , primary_table
    , primary_column_1
    , primary_column_2
    from #ConTab

OPEN @CURSOR

FETCH NEXT FROM @CURSOR INTO @foreign_key_name, @keycnt, @foreign_table,         @foreign_column_1, @foreign_column_2, 
                        @primary_table, @primary_column_1, @primary_column_2

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN

    EXEC ('ALTER TABLE ['+@foreign_table+'] DROP CONSTRAINT ['+@foreign_key_name+']')

FETCH NEXT FROM @CURSOR INTO @foreign_key_name, @keycnt, @foreign_table, @foreign_column_1, @foreign_column_2, 
                         @primary_table, @primary_column_1, @primary_column_2
END
CLOSE @CURSOR
PRINT 'Cursor 1 finished work'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Here you should provide the chainging script for the primary table
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRINT 'Altering primary table begin'

TRUNCATE TABLE table_name

PRINT 'Altering finished'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Cursor, below, will add again all reference FKs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PRINT 'Cursor 2 starting. All refernce FK will added'
SET @CURSOR  = CURSOR SCROLL
FOR
select foreign_key_name
    , keycnt
    , foreign_table
    , foreign_column_1
    , foreign_column_2
    , primary_table
    , primary_column_1
    , primary_column_2
    from #ConTab

OPEN @CURSOR

FETCH NEXT FROM @CURSOR INTO @foreign_key_name, @keycnt, @foreign_table, @foreign_column_1, @foreign_column_2, 
                         @primary_table, @primary_column_1, @primary_column_2

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN

    EXEC ('ALTER TABLE [' +@foreign_table+ '] WITH NOCHECK ADD  CONSTRAINT [' +@foreign_key_name+ '] FOREIGN KEY(['+@foreign_column_1+'])
        REFERENCES [' +@primary_table+'] (['+@primary_column_1+'])')

    EXEC ('ALTER TABLE [' +@foreign_table+ '] CHECK CONSTRAINT [' +@foreign_key_name+']')

FETCH NEXT FROM @CURSOR INTO @foreign_key_name, @keycnt, @foreign_table, @foreign_column_1, @foreign_column_2, 
                         @primary_table, @primary_column_1, @primary_column_2
END
CLOSE @CURSOR
PRINT 'Cursor 2 finished work'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRINT 'Temporary table droping'
drop table #ConTab
PRINT 'Finish'

#3rd floor

SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=0;
TRUNCATE table1;
TRUNCATE table2;
SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS=1;

reference - Truncate Foreign Key Constraint Table

Working for me in MYSQL

#4th floor

The solution @denver_citizen provided above doesn't work for me, but I like the spirit of it so I modified something:

• Make it a stored procedure
• Changed the way foreign keys are populated and recreated
• The original script truncates all referenced tables, which can cause foreign key conflict errors when the referenced tables have other foreign key references.This script truncates only the tables specified as parameters.It is up to the user to call this stored procedure multiple times on all tables in the correct order

For the public good, here's an updated script:

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[truncate_non_empty_table]

  @TableToTruncate                 VARCHAR(64)

AS 

BEGIN

SET NOCOUNT ON

-- GLOBAL VARIABLES
DECLARE @i int
DECLARE @Debug bit
DECLARE @Recycle bit
DECLARE @Verbose bit
DECLARE @TableName varchar(80)
DECLARE @ColumnName varchar(80)
DECLARE @ReferencedTableName varchar(80)
DECLARE @ReferencedColumnName varchar(80)
DECLARE @ConstraintName varchar(250)

DECLARE @CreateStatement varchar(max)
DECLARE @DropStatement varchar(max)   
DECLARE @TruncateStatement varchar(max)
DECLARE @CreateStatementTemp varchar(max)
DECLARE @DropStatementTemp varchar(max)
DECLARE @TruncateStatementTemp varchar(max)
DECLARE @Statement varchar(max)

        -- 1 = Will not execute statements 
 SET @Debug = 0
        -- 0 = Will not create or truncate storage table
        -- 1 = Will create or truncate storage table
 SET @Recycle = 0
        -- 1 = Will print a message on every step
 set @Verbose = 1

 SET @i = 1
    SET @CreateStatement = 'ALTER TABLE [dbo].[<tablename>]  WITH NOCHECK ADD  CONSTRAINT [<constraintname>] FOREIGN KEY([<column>]) REFERENCES [dbo].[<reftable>] ([<refcolumn>])'
    SET @DropStatement = 'ALTER TABLE [dbo].[<tablename>] DROP CONSTRAINT [<constraintname>]'
    SET @TruncateStatement = 'TRUNCATE TABLE [<tablename>]'

-- Drop Temporary tables

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#FKs') IS NOT NULL
    DROP TABLE #FKs

-- GET FKs
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY OBJECT_NAME(parent_object_id), clm1.name) as ID,
       OBJECT_NAME(constraint_object_id) as ConstraintName,
       OBJECT_NAME(parent_object_id) as TableName,
       clm1.name as ColumnName, 
       OBJECT_NAME(referenced_object_id) as ReferencedTableName,
       clm2.name as ReferencedColumnName
  INTO #FKs
  FROM sys.foreign_key_columns fk
       JOIN sys.columns clm1 
         ON fk.parent_column_id = clm1.column_id 
            AND fk.parent_object_id = clm1.object_id
       JOIN sys.columns clm2
         ON fk.referenced_column_id = clm2.column_id 
            AND fk.referenced_object_id= clm2.object_id
 --WHERE OBJECT_NAME(parent_object_id) not in ('//tables that you do not wont to be truncated')
 WHERE OBJECT_NAME(referenced_object_id) = @TableToTruncate
 ORDER BY OBJECT_NAME(parent_object_id)


-- Prepare Storage Table
IF Not EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'Internal_FK_Definition_Storage')
   BEGIN
        IF @Verbose = 1
     PRINT '1. Creating Process Specific Tables...'

  -- CREATE STORAGE TABLE IF IT DOES NOT EXISTS
  CREATE TABLE [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage] 
  (
   ID int not null identity(1,1) primary key,
   FK_Name varchar(250) not null,
   FK_CreationStatement varchar(max) not null,
   FK_DestructionStatement varchar(max) not null,
   Table_TruncationStatement varchar(max) not null
  ) 
   END 
ELSE
   BEGIN
        IF @Recycle = 0
            BEGIN
                IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '1. Truncating Process Specific Tables...'

    -- TRUNCATE TABLE IF IT ALREADY EXISTS
    TRUNCATE TABLE [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage]    
      END
      ELSE
         PRINT '1. Process specific table will be recycled from previous execution...'
   END


IF @Recycle = 0
   BEGIN

  IF @Verbose = 1
     PRINT '2. Backing up Foreign Key Definitions...'

  -- Fetch and persist FKs             
  WHILE (@i <= (SELECT MAX(ID) FROM #FKs))
   BEGIN
    SET @ConstraintName = (SELECT ConstraintName FROM #FKs WHERE ID = @i)
    SET @TableName = (SELECT TableName FROM #FKs WHERE ID = @i)
    SET @ColumnName = (SELECT ColumnName FROM #FKs WHERE ID = @i)
    SET @ReferencedTableName = (SELECT ReferencedTableName FROM #FKs WHERE ID = @i)
    SET @ReferencedColumnName = (SELECT ReferencedColumnName FROM #FKs WHERE ID = @i)

    SET @DropStatementTemp = REPLACE(REPLACE(@DropStatement,'<tablename>',@TableName),'<constraintname>',@ConstraintName)
    SET @CreateStatementTemp = REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(@CreateStatement,'<tablename>',@TableName),'<column>',@ColumnName),'<constraintname>',@ConstraintName),'<reftable>',@ReferencedTableName),'<refcolumn>',@ReferencedColumnName)
    SET @TruncateStatementTemp = REPLACE(@TruncateStatement,'<tablename>',@TableName) 

    INSERT INTO [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage]
                        SELECT @ConstraintName, @CreateStatementTemp, @DropStatementTemp, @TruncateStatementTemp

    SET @i = @i + 1

    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '  > Backing up [' + @ConstraintName + '] from [' + @TableName + ']'

    END   
    END   
    ELSE 
       PRINT '2. Backup up was recycled from previous execution...'

       IF @Verbose = 1
     PRINT '3. Dropping Foreign Keys...'

    -- DROP FOREING KEYS
    SET @i = 1
    WHILE (@i <= (SELECT MAX(ID) FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage]))
          BEGIN
             SET @ConstraintName = (SELECT FK_Name FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage] WHERE ID = @i)
    SET @Statement = (SELECT FK_DestructionStatement FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage] WITH (NOLOCK) WHERE ID = @i)

    IF @Debug = 1 
       PRINT @Statement
    ELSE
       EXEC(@Statement)

    SET @i = @i + 1


    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '  > Dropping [' + @ConstraintName + ']'

             END     


    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '4. Truncating Tables...'

    -- TRUNCATE TABLES
-- SzP: commented out as the tables to be truncated might also contain tables that has foreign keys
-- to resolve this the stored procedure should be called recursively, but I dont have the time to do it...          
 /*
    SET @i = 1
    WHILE (@i <= (SELECT MAX(ID) FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage]))
          BEGIN

    SET @Statement = (SELECT Table_TruncationStatement FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage] WHERE ID = @i)

    IF @Debug = 1 
       PRINT @Statement
    ELSE
       EXEC(@Statement)

    SET @i = @i + 1

    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '  > ' + @Statement
          END
*/          


    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '  > TRUNCATE TABLE [' + @TableToTruncate + ']'

    IF @Debug = 1 
        PRINT 'TRUNCATE TABLE [' + @TableToTruncate + ']'
    ELSE
        EXEC('TRUNCATE TABLE [' + @TableToTruncate + ']')


    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '5. Re-creating Foreign Keys...'

    -- CREATE FOREING KEYS
    SET @i = 1
    WHILE (@i <= (SELECT MAX(ID) FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage]))
          BEGIN
             SET @ConstraintName = (SELECT FK_Name FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage] WHERE ID = @i)
    SET @Statement = (SELECT FK_CreationStatement FROM [Internal_FK_Definition_Storage] WHERE ID = @i)

    IF @Debug = 1 
       PRINT @Statement
    ELSE
       EXEC(@Statement)

    SET @i = @i + 1


    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '  > Re-creating [' + @ConstraintName + ']'

          END

    IF @Verbose = 1
       PRINT '6. Process Completed'


END

#5th floor

The table cannot be truncated unless the constraint is deleted.Disabling also does not work.You need to give up everything.I made a script to delete all constraints and recreate them.

Be sure to wrap it in one transaction;

SET NOCOUNT ON
GO

DECLARE @table TABLE(
RowId INT PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY(1, 1),
ForeignKeyConstraintName NVARCHAR(200),
ForeignKeyConstraintTableSchema NVARCHAR(200),
ForeignKeyConstraintTableName NVARCHAR(200),
ForeignKeyConstraintColumnName NVARCHAR(200),
PrimaryKeyConstraintName NVARCHAR(200),
PrimaryKeyConstraintTableSchema NVARCHAR(200),
PrimaryKeyConstraintTableName NVARCHAR(200),
PrimaryKeyConstraintColumnName NVARCHAR(200)
)

INSERT INTO @table(ForeignKeyConstraintName, ForeignKeyConstraintTableSchema, ForeignKeyConstraintTableName, ForeignKeyConstraintColumnName)
SELECT
U.CONSTRAINT_NAME,
U.TABLE_SCHEMA,
U.TABLE_NAME,
U.COLUMN_NAME
FROM
INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE U
INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS C
ON U.CONSTRAINT_NAME = C.CONSTRAINT_NAME
WHERE
C.CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'FOREIGN KEY'

UPDATE @table SET
PrimaryKeyConstraintName = UNIQUE_CONSTRAINT_NAME
FROM
@table T
INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.REFERENTIAL_CONSTRAINTS R
ON T.ForeignKeyConstraintName = R.CONSTRAINT_NAME

UPDATE @table SET
PrimaryKeyConstraintTableSchema = TABLE_SCHEMA,
PrimaryKeyConstraintTableName = TABLE_NAME
FROM @table T
INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS C
ON T.PrimaryKeyConstraintName = C.CONSTRAINT_NAME

UPDATE @table SET
PrimaryKeyConstraintColumnName = COLUMN_NAME
FROM @table T
INNER JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE U
ON T.PrimaryKeyConstraintName = U.CONSTRAINT_NAME

--DROP CONSTRAINT:

DECLARE @dynSQL varchar(MAX);

DECLARE cur CURSOR FOR
SELECT
'
ALTER TABLE [' + ForeignKeyConstraintTableSchema + '].[' + ForeignKeyConstraintTableName + ']
DROP CONSTRAINT ' + ForeignKeyConstraintName + '
'
FROM
@table

OPEN cur

FETCH cur into @dynSQL
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0 
BEGIN
    exec(@dynSQL)
    print @dynSQL

    FETCH cur into @dynSQL
END
CLOSE cur
DEALLOCATE cur
---------------------



   --HERE GOES YOUR TRUNCATES!!!!!
   --HERE GOES YOUR TRUNCATES!!!!!
   --HERE GOES YOUR TRUNCATES!!!!!

    truncate table your_table

   --HERE GOES YOUR TRUNCATES!!!!!
   --HERE GOES YOUR TRUNCATES!!!!!
   --HERE GOES YOUR TRUNCATES!!!!!

---------------------
--ADD CONSTRAINT:

DECLARE cur2 CURSOR FOR
SELECT
'
ALTER TABLE [' + ForeignKeyConstraintTableSchema + '].[' + ForeignKeyConstraintTableName + ']
ADD CONSTRAINT ' + ForeignKeyConstraintName + ' FOREIGN KEY(' + ForeignKeyConstraintColumnName + ') REFERENCES [' + PrimaryKeyConstraintTableSchema + '].[' + PrimaryKeyConstraintTableName + '](' + PrimaryKeyConstraintColumnName + ')
'
FROM
@table

OPEN cur2

FETCH cur2 into @dynSQL
WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0 
BEGIN
    exec(@dynSQL)

    print @dynSQL

    FETCH cur2 into @dynSQL
END
CLOSE cur2
DEALLOCATE cur2