An attribute or set of attributes that uniquely identifies each record in a Relational Database.

Properties

  • Uniqueness: every value must be unique within the table.
  • Non-nullability: cannot contain NULL values.
  • Entity Integrity: every row can be specifically identified and retrieved.
  • Single per table: a table can have only one primary key, which may consist of a single column or multiple columns (known as a composite key).