Rules

A rule specifies the acceptable values that can be inserted into the column to which it is bound.

In Database Explorer, you can perform operations on rules by using the shortcut menu. Right-click a rule in Database Explorer to access options for specific tasks, such as duplicating rules or generating scripts for them.

Note

Rules have been deprecated. Use CHECK constraints instead.

Create a rule

You can create a rule in SQL Editor in one of these ways:

• Code completion to write a script.
• SQL snippets to insert predefined or custom code.

Delete a rule

1. In Database Explorer, right-click the rule you want to delete and select Delete, or press Delete.

2. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Note

You cannot undo the drop rule operation, as this action permanently deletes the rule. To avoid data loss, back up the database before deleting the rule.

Duplicate a rule

1. In Database Explorer, right-click a required rule and select Duplicate Object.

2. In the Duplicate Object dialog, configure the object settings:

• In Destination connection, select the target server.
• In Destination database, select the target database.
• In Destination schema, select the target schema.
• In New object name, specify the object name.
• Select Drop destination object to drop the destination object if it already exists.
• Optional: Select Script Changes, then select To New SQL Window to open the generated script in a new SQL document, or To Clipboard to copy it to the clipboard.

3. Click OK.

Generate a script for a rule

1. In Database Explorer, right-click a required rule and select Generate Script As, then select the statement type.

2. Select one of the following output options:

• To New SQL Window – Opens the script in a new SQL document.
• To File – Generates the script to a .sql file.
• To Clipboard – Copies the script to the clipboard.

For more information, see Generate the DDL and DML statements for database objects.

View rule properties

To view rule properties, in Database Explorer, right-click the rule or Rules node and select Show Details.

Object Viewer opens and provides detailed information about the rule.

Refresh rules

To update the rule to reflect the latest changes, in Database Explorer, right-click the rule or Rules node and select Refresh, or press F5.

Open the Properties window

To open the Properties window, in Database Explorer, right-click the rule and select Properties, or press F4.

Filter rules

1. In Database Explorer, right-click the Rules node and select Filter.

2. In the Filter Settings dialog, configure the filter parameters.

3. Click OK to apply the filter.

Note

When you open the Rules node, the number of objects it contains appears in parentheses next to the node name. This number changes based on your filter settings.

Shortcut menu options for a specific rule

The following table describes the shortcut menu options, which appear when you right-click a specific rule in Database Explorer.

Name	Description
Source Control > Source Control Manager	Opens Source Control Manager, where you can track and manage changes to database schema and static data. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it.
Source Control > Commit	Opens Source Control Manager with all local changes (if any) selected and ready to commit. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all local database changes.
Source Control > Get Latest	Opens Source Control Manager with all remote changes (if any) selected, ready to pull using Get Latest. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all remote database changes.
Duplicate Object	Opens the Duplicate Object dialog to duplicate the rule.
Generate Script As	Generates a script of the selected object using the CREATE, DROP, and DROP and CREATE statements. The script can be saved to a new SQL document or to a file, or copied to the clipboard.
Show Details	Opens Object Viewer that displays object details.
Delete	Drops the selected object from the database. Shortcut: Delete
Refresh	Updates the object to reflect the latest changes. Shortcut: F5
Properties	Opens the Properties pane to view the object information. Shortcut: F4

Shortcut menu options for the Rules node

The following table describes the shortcut menu options, which appear when you right-click the Rules node in Database Explorer.

Name	Description
Source Control > Source Control Manager	Opens Source Control Manager, where you can track and manage changes to database schema and static data. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it.
Source Control > Commit	Opens Source Control Manager with all local changes (if any) selected and ready to commit. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all local database changes.
Source Control > Get Latest	Opens Source Control Manager with all remote changes (if any) selected, ready to pull using Get Latest. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all remote database changes.
Filter	Opens the Filter Settings dialog to control which rules should appear in Database Explorer.
Show Details	Opens Object Viewer that displays object details.
Refresh	Updates the object to reflect the latest changes. Shortcut: F5

Note

The Source Control shortcut menu is available only after you link the corresponding database to a source-control system.

Bulk operations

In Database Explorer, hold down Ctrl and select multiple rules. Then right-click the selection and select the required option.

The following table describes the shortcut menu options available for multiple rules.

Name	Description
Source Control > Source Control Manager	Opens Source Control Manager, where you can track and manage changes to database schema and static data. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it.
Source Control > Commit	Opens Source Control Manager with all local changes (if any) selected and ready to commit. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all local database changes.
Source Control > Get Latest	Opens Source Control Manager with all remote changes (if any) selected, ready to pull using Get Latest. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all remote database changes.
Source Control > Link/Unlink Static Data	Opens the Source Control Link Static Data dialog that displays the tables whose data you want to link.
Generate Script As	Generates scripts of the selected objects using the CREATE, DROP, and DROP and CREATE statements. The scripts can be generated to a new SQL document or to a file, or copied to the clipboard.
Delete	Drops the selected rules from the database. Shortcut: Delete