addNotNullConstraint

The addNotNullConstraint Change Type adds a NOT NULL constraint to an existing table.

Uses

You can typically use the addNotNullConstraint Change Type when you want to apply a NOT NULL constraint value to a specific table instead of having nullable columns in that table. The addNotNullConstraint Change Type enforces a column to always contain a value and not to accept NULL values so that you cannot insert or update a record without adding a value to the column containing this constraint.

If a defaultNullValue attribute is passed, all null values for the column will be updated to the passed value before the constraint is applied. If null values exist in your database, and if you don’t not use a defaultNullValue attribute, the change will fail.

Running the addNotNullConstraint Change Type

To add a NOT NULL constraint to your table, follow these steps:

  1. Add the addNotNullConstraint Change Type to your changeset with the needed attributes as it is shown in the examples.
  2. Deploy your changeset by running the update command:
    liquibase update

Available attributes

Name Description Required for Supports
catalogName The name of the catalog. all
columnDataType The current data type of the column. informix, mariadb, mssql, mysql all
columnName The name of the column for which to add the constraint. all all
constraintName The created constraint name (if database supports names for NOT NULL constraints). all
defaultNullValue The value for which you can set all values that currently equal null in a column. If null values exist and if defaultNullValue is not set, the change will fail. all
schemaName The name of the schema. all
tableName The attribute that adds a NOT NULL constraint to an existing table. If a defaultNullValue attribute is passed, all null values for the column will be updated to the passed value before the constraint is applied. all all
validate The attribute which is true if the NOT NULL constraint has 'ENABLE VALIDATE' set, or which is false if the NOT NULL constrain has 'ENABLE NOVALIDATE' set. all 
<changeSet author="liquibase-docs"  id="addNotNullConstraint-example">  
    <addNotNullConstraint catalogName="cat"
           columnDataType="int"  
           columnName="id"  
           constraintName="const_name"  
           defaultNullValue="A String"  
           schemaName="public" 
           tableName="person"  
           validate="true"/> 
</changeSet>
changeSet:  
  id:  addNotNullConstraint-example  
  author:  liquibase-docs  
  changes:  
  -  addNotNullConstraint:  
      catalogName:  cat  
      columnDataType:  int  
      columnName:  id  
      constraintName:  const_name  
      defaultNullValue:  A String  
      schemaName:  public  
      tableName:  person  
      validate:  true
{
  "changeSet":{
     "id":"addNotNullConstraint-example",
     "author":"liquibase-docs",
     "changes":[
        {
           "addNotNullConstraint":{
              "catalogName":"cat",
              "columnDataType":"int",
              "columnName":"id",
              "constraintName":"const_name",
              "defaultNullValue":"A String",
              "schemaName":"public",
              "tableName":"person",
              "validate":true
           }
         }
       ]
     }
   }
UPDATE cat.person SET id = 'INT' WHERE id IS NULL; 
ALTER TABLE cat.person MODIFY id INT NOT NULL;

Database support

Database Notes Auto rollback
DB2/LUW Supported Yes
DB2/z Not Supported No
Derby Supported Yes
Firebird Not Supported No
H2 Supported Yes
HyperSQL Supported Yes
INGRES Supported Yes
Informix Supported Yes
MariaDB Supported Yes
MySQL Supported Yes
Oracle Supported Yes
PostgreSQL Supported Yes
Snowflake Supported Yes
SQL Server Supported Yes
SQLite Not Supported No
Sybase Supported Yes
Sybase Anywhere Supported Yes