What Are the Exported Keys for a Table? in JDBC

To retrieve a description of the foreign key columns that reference the given table’s primary key columns (the foreign keys exported by a table), you can use the DatabaseMetaData. getExportedKeys() method. This method returns its result as a ResultSet object (which is not very useful for web-based applications). For web-based applications, it is better to return the result as HTML or XML.

The signature of DatabaseMetaData’s .getExportedKeys() is as follows:

This method retrieves a description of the foreign key columns that reference the given table’s primary key columns (the foreign keys exported by a table). They are ordered by FKTABLE_CAT, FKTABLE_SCHEM, FKTABLE_NAME, and KEY_SEQ. Each foreign key column description has the columns shown in Table 9-2.

Table : ResultSet Columns for getExportedKeys()

The parameters are

catalog: A catalog name; must match the catalog name as it is stored in this database. "" retrieves those without a catalog; null means that the catalog name should not be used to narrow the search.
schema: A schema name; must match the schema name as it is stored in the database. "" retrieves those without a schema; null means that the schema name should not be used to narrow the search.
table: A table name; must match the table name as it is stored in this database.

Oracle Database Setup

Let’s create two tables (dept_table and emp_table) and define the PK and FK. Also, keep in mind that that if you violate the PK and FK rules, the SQL INSERT operation will fail.

MySQL Database Setup

Database changed

The Solution

import java.sql.*;
  import javax.servlet.*;
  import javax.servlet.http.*;
  import java.io.PrintWriter;
  import java.io.IOException;
  import java.sql.*;
  import javax.servlet.*;
  import javax.servlet.http.*;
  import jcb.util.DatabaseUtil;
  import jcb.db.VeryBasicConnectionManager;
  public class GetExportedKeys extends HttpServlet {
  public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
  HttpServletResponse response)
  throws ServletException, IOException {
  Connection conn = null;
  ResultSet exportedKeys = null;
  try {
  String dbVendor = request.getParameter("vendor").trim();
  String outputFormat = request.getParameter("format").trim();
  String table = request.getParameter("table").trim();
  conn = VeryBasicConnectionManager.getConnection(dbVendor);
  if (dbVendor.equals("mysql")) {
  String catalog = request.getParameter("catalog").trim();
  exportedKeys = getExportedKeys(conn,
  catalog, // catalog,
  null, // schema
  table);
  }
   else if (dbVendor.equals("oracle")) {
  String schema = request.getParameter("schema").trim();
  exportedKeys = getExportedKeys(conn,
  null, // catalog,
  schema, // schema
  table);
  }
  else {
  printError(response, "unknown db vendor");
  return;
  }
  if (outputFormat.equals("xml")) {
  printXML(response, exportedKeys);
  }
  else {
  printHTML(response, exportedKeys);
  }
  }
  catch(Exception e) {
  e.printStackTrace();
  printError(response, e.getMessage());
  }
  finally {
  DatabaseUtil.close(exportedKeys);
  DatabaseUtil.close(conn);
  }
  } // end doGet
  private static void printHTML(HttpServletResponse response,
  ResultSet exportedKeys)
  throws Exception {
  response.setContentType("text/html");
  PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
  StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
  buffer.append("<html><body><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>");
  buffer.append("<TR><TH>PK Catalog</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>PK Schema</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>PK Table</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>PK Column</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>FK Catalog</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>FK Schema</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>FK Table</TH>");
   buffer.append("<TH>FK Column</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>FK Seq.</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>Update Rule</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>Delete Rule</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>FK Name</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>PK Name</TH>");
  buffer.append("<TH>Deferrability</TH></TR>");
  while (exportedKeys.next()) {
  buffer.append("<TR><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKTABLE_CAT"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKTABLE_SCHEM"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKTABLE_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKCOLUMN_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKTABLE_CAT"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKTABLE_SCHEM"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKTABLE_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKCOLUMN_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getShort("KEY_SEQ"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  short updateRule = exportedKeys.getShort("UPDATE_RULE");
  buffer.append(getUpdateRule(updateRule));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  short deleteRule = exportedKeys.getShort("DELETE_RULE");
  buffer.append(getDeleteRule(deleteRule));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FK_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PK_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</TD><TD>");
  short deferrability = exportedKeys.getShort("DEFERRABILITY");
  buffer.append(getDeferrability(deferrability));
  buffer.append("</TD><TR>");
  }
  buffer.append("</table></body></html>");
  out.println(buffer.toString());
  }
    private static void printXML(HttpServletResponse response,
  ResultSet exportedKeys)
  throws Exception {
  response.setContentType("text/xml");
  PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
  StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
  buffer.append("<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>");
  buffer.append("<exported_keys>");
  while (exportedKeys.next()) {
  buffer.append("<exported_key><pk_table_catalog>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKTABLE_CAT"));
  buffer.append("</pk_table_catalog><pk_table_schema>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKTABLE_SCHEM"));
  buffer.append("</pk_table_schema><pk_table_name>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKTABLE_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</pk_table_name><pk_column_name>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PKCOLUMN_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</pk_column_name><fk_table_catalog>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKTABLE_CAT"));
  buffer.append("</fk_table_catalog><fk_table_schema>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKTABLE_SCHEM"));
  buffer.append("</fk_table_schema><fk_table_name>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKTABLE_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</fk_table_name><fk_column_name>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FKCOLUMN_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</fk_column_name><key_sequence>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("KEY_SEQ"));
  buffer.append("</key_sequence><update_rule>");
  short updateRule = exportedKeys.getShort("UPDATE_RULE");
  buffer.append(getUpdateRule(updateRule));
  buffer.append("</update_rule><delete_rule>");
  short deleteRule = exportedKeys.getShort("DELETE_RULE");
  buffer.append(getDeleteRule(deleteRule));
  buffer.append("</delete_rule><fk_name>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("FK_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</fk_name><pk_name>");
  buffer.append(exportedKeys.getString("PK_NAME"));
  buffer.append("</pk_name><deferrability>");
  short deferrability = exportedKeys.getShort("DEFERRABILITY");
  buffer.append(getDeferrability(deferrability));
  buffer.append("</deferrability></exported_key>");
  }
  buffer.append("</exported_keys>");
  out.println(buffer.toString());
  }
    private static void printError(HttpServletResponse response,
  String message) {
  try {
  PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
  StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder();
  buffer.append("<html><body>");
  buffer.append(message);
  buffer.append("</body></html>");
  out.println(buffer.toString());
  }
  catch(Exception ignore) {
  }
  }

public static ResultSet getExportedKeys(Connection conn,
  String catalog,
  String schema,
  String table)
  throws Exception {
  if (table == null) {
  return null;
  }
  DatabaseMetaData meta = conn.getMetaData();
  if (meta == null) {
  return null;
  }
  return meta.getExportedKeys(catalog, schema, table.toUpperCase());
  }
    private static String getUpdateRule(short updateRule) {
  if (updateRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyNoAction) {
  return "importedKeyNoAction";
  }
  else if (updateRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyCascade) {
  return "importedKeyCascade";
  }
  else if (updateRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeySetNull) {
  return "importedKeySetNull";
  }
  else if (updateRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeySetDefault) {
  return "importedKeySetDefault";
  }
  else if (updateRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyRestrict) {
  return "importedKeyRestrict";
  }
  else {
  return "nobody knows";
  }
  }
  private static String getDeleteRule(short deleteRule) {
  if (deleteRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyNoAction) {
  return "importedKeyNoAction";
  }
  else if (deleteRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyCascade) {
  return "importedKeyCascade";
  }
  else if (deleteRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeySetNull) {
  return "importedKeySetNull";
  }
  else if (deleteRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyRestrict) {
  return "importedKeyRestrict";
  }
  else if (deleteRule == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeySetDefault) {
  return "importedKeySetDefault";
  }
  else {
  return "nobody knows";
  }
  }
  private static String getDeferrability(short deferrability) {
  if (deferrability == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyInitiallyDeferred) {
  return "importedKeyInitiallyDeferred";
  }
    else if (deferrability ==
        DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyInitiallyImmediate) {
  return "importedKeyInitiallyImmediate";
  }
  else if (deferrability == DatabaseMetaData.importedKeyNotDeferrable) {
  return "importedKeyNotDeferrable";
  }
  else {
  return "nobody knows";
  }
  }
  }

Invoking GetExportedKeys for MySQL

Figure : shows how to run the solution for the MySQL database.

Invoking GetExportedKeys for Oracle

Figure : shows how to run the solution for the Oracle database.

« Previous Topics
How Do You Get Database Schemas?
How Do You Get Database Catalogs?
How Do You Get The Signature Of A Stored Procedure?

Next Topics »
Foreign Keys To Create A Table
What Are The Available Sql Types Used By A Database?
What Are The Table's Privileges?

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