Cannot truncate table because it is being referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint?

Using MSSQL2005, can I truncate a table with a foreign key constraint if I first truncate the child table (the table with the primary key of the FK relationship)?

I know that I can either

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

I thought that as long as I truncated the child table before the parent, I'd be okay without doing either of the options above, but I'm getting this error:

> Cannot truncate table 'TableName' because it is being referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint.

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

Note that this isn't probably what you'd want if you have millions+ of records, as it's very slow.

Correct; you cannot truncate a table which has an FK constraint on it.

Typically my process for this is:

1. Drop the constraints
2. Trunc the table
3. Recreate the constraints.

(All in a transaction, of course.)

Of course, this only applies if the child has already been truncated. Otherwise I go a different route, dependent entirely on what my data looks like. (Too many variables to get into here.)

The original poster determined WHY this is the case; see this answer for more details.

Because TRUNCATE TABLE is a [DDL command][1], it cannot check to see whether the records in the table are being referenced by a record in the child table.

This is why DELETE works and TRUNCATE TABLE doesn't: because the database is able to make sure that it isn't being referenced by another record.

[1]:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_definition_language "Data definition language"

Without ALTER TABLE

-- Delete all records
DELETE FROM [TableName]
-- Set current ID to "1"
-- If table already contains data, use "0"
-- If table is empty and never insert data, use "1"
-- Use SP https://github.com/reduardo7/TableTruncate
DBCC CHECKIDENT ([TableName], RESEED, 0)

#As Stored Procedure

https://github.com/reduardo7/TableTruncate

Note that this isn't probably what you'd want if you have millions+ of records, as it's very slow.

The solution @denver_citizen provided above did not work for me, but I liked the spirit of it so I modified a few things :

• made it a stored procedure
• changed the way the foreign keys are populated and recreated
• the original script truncates all referenced tables, this can cause foreign key violation error when the referenced table has other foreign key references. This script truncates only the table specified as parameter. It is up to the user, to call this stored procedure multiple times on all tables in the correct order

For the benefit of the public here is the 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

use the following command after deletion of all rows in that table by using delete statement

delete from tablename

DBCC CHECKIDENT ('tablename', RESEED, 0)

EDIT: Corrected syntax for SQL Server

Well, since I did not find examples of the very simple solution I used, which is:

1. Drop foreign key;
2. Truncate table
3. Recreate foreign key

Here it goes:

1. Find the foreign key name that is causing the failure (for example: FK_PROBLEM_REASON, with field ID, from table TABLE_OWNING_CONSTRAINT)

2. Remove that key from the table:

   ALTER TABLE TABLE_OWNING_CONSTRAINT DROP CONSTRAINT FK_PROBLEM_REASON

3. Truncate wanted table

   TRUNCATE TABLE TABLE_TO_TRUNCATE

4. Re-add the key to that first table:

   ALTER TABLE TABLE_OWNING_CONSTRAINT ADD CONSTRAINT FK_PROBLEM_REASON FOREIGN KEY(ID) REFERENCES TABLE_TO_TRUNCATE (ID)

That's it.

The process is removing foreign key constraint and truncate table then add constrain by following steps.

    SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0; 

    truncate table "yourTableName";

    SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 1;

you can follow this step, By reseeding table you can delete the data of the table.

delete from table_name
dbcc checkident('table_name',reseed,0)

if some error comes then you have to reseed the primary table.

Here is a script I wrote in order to automate the process. I hope it helps.

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
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')
 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
    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 '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'

@denver_citizen and @Peter Szanto's answers didn't quite work for me, but I modified them to account for:

1. Composite Keys
2. On Delete and On Update actions
3. Checking the index when re-adding
4. Schemas other than dbo
5. Multiple tables at once

DECLARE @Debug bit = 0;

-- List of tables to truncate
select
	SchemaName, Name
into #tables
from (values 
	('schema', 'table')
	,('schema2', 'table2')
) as X(SchemaName, Name)


BEGIN TRANSACTION TruncateTrans;

with foreignKeys AS (
     SELECT 
        SCHEMA_NAME(fk.schema_id) as SchemaName
        ,fk.Name as ConstraintName
        ,OBJECT_NAME(fk.parent_object_id) as TableName
        ,SCHEMA_NAME(t.SCHEMA_ID) as ReferencedSchemaName
        ,OBJECT_NAME(fk.referenced_object_id) as ReferencedTableName
        ,fc.constraint_column_id
        ,COL_NAME(fk.parent_object_id, fc.parent_column_id) AS ColumnName
        ,COL_NAME(fk.referenced_object_id, fc.referenced_column_id) as ReferencedColumnName
        ,fk.delete_referential_action_desc
        ,fk.update_referential_action_desc
    FROM sys.foreign_keys AS fk
        JOIN sys.foreign_key_columns AS fc
            ON fk.object_id = fc.constraint_object_id
        JOIN #tables tbl 
            ON OBJECT_NAME(fc.referenced_object_id) = tbl.Name
		JOIN sys.tables t on OBJECT_NAME(t.object_id) = tbl.Name 
			and SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id) = tbl.SchemaName
			and t.OBJECT_ID = fc.referenced_object_id
)



select
    quotename(fk.ConstraintName) AS ConstraintName
    ,quotename(fk.SchemaName) + '.' + quotename(fk.TableName) AS TableName
    ,quotename(fk.ReferencedSchemaName) + '.' + quotename(fk.ReferencedTableName) AS ReferencedTableName
    ,replace(fk.delete_referential_action_desc, '_', ' ') AS DeleteAction
    ,replace(fk.update_referential_action_desc, '_', ' ') AS UpdateAction
    ,STUFF((
        SELECT ',' + quotename(fk2.ColumnName)
        FROM foreignKeys fk2 
        WHERE fk2.ConstraintName = fk.ConstraintName and fk2.SchemaName = fk.SchemaName
        ORDER BY fk2.constraint_column_id
        FOR XML PATH('')
    ),1,1,'') AS ColumnNames
    ,STUFF((
        SELECT ',' + quotename(fk2.ReferencedColumnName)
        FROM foreignKeys fk2 
        WHERE fk2.ConstraintName = fk.ConstraintName and fk2.SchemaName = fk.SchemaName
        ORDER BY fk2.constraint_column_id
        FOR XML PATH('')
    ),1,1,'') AS ReferencedColumnNames
into #FKs
from foreignKeys fk
GROUP BY fk.SchemaName, fk.ConstraintName, fk.TableName, fk.ReferencedSchemaName, fk.ReferencedTableName, fk.delete_referential_action_desc, fk.update_referential_action_desc



-- Drop FKs
select 
	identity(int,1,1) as ID,
	'ALTER TABLE ' + fk.TableName + ' DROP CONSTRAINT ' + fk.ConstraintName AS script
into #scripts
from #FKs fk

-- Truncate 
insert into #scripts
select distinct 
    'TRUNCATE TABLE ' + quotename(tbl.SchemaName) + '.' + quotename(tbl.Name) AS script
from #tables tbl

-- Recreate
insert into #scripts
select 
	'ALTER TABLE ' + fk.TableName + 
	' WITH CHECK ADD CONSTRAINT ' + fk.ConstraintName + 
	' FOREIGN KEY ('+ fk.ColumnNames +')' + 
	' REFERENCES ' + fk.ReferencedTableName +' ('+ fk.ReferencedColumnNames +')' +
    ' ON DELETE ' + fk.DeleteAction COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS_KS_WS + ' ON UPDATE ' + fk.UpdateAction COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS_KS_WS AS script
from #FKs fk


DECLARE @script nvarchar(MAX);

DECLARE curScripts CURSOR FOR 
	select script
	from #scripts
	order by ID

OPEN curScripts

WHILE 1=1 BEGIN
	FETCH NEXT FROM curScripts INTO @script
	IF @@FETCH_STATUS != 0 BREAK;

	print @script;
    IF @Debug = 0
	    EXEC (@script);
END
CLOSE curScripts
DEALLOCATE curScripts


drop table #scripts
drop table #FKs
drop table #tables


COMMIT TRANSACTION TruncateTrans;

If I understand correctly, what you want to do is to have a clean environment to be set up for DB involving integration tests.

My approach here would be to drop the whole schema and recreate it later.

Reasons:

1. You probably already have a "create schema" script. Re-using it for test isolation is easy.
2. Creating a schema is pretty quick.
3. With that approach, it is pretty easy to set up your script to have each fixture create a NEW schema (with a temporary name), and then you can start running test-fixtures in parallel, making the slowest part of your test suite much faster.

You cannot truncate a table if you don't drop the constraints. A disable also doesn't work. you need to Drop everything. i've made a script that drop all constrainsts and then recreate then.

Be sure to wrap it in a 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

Found elsewhere on the web

EXEC sp_MSForEachTable 'ALTER TABLE ? NOCHECK CONSTRAINT ALL'
EXEC sp_MSForEachTable 'ALTER TABLE ? DISABLE TRIGGER ALL'
-- EXEC sp_MSForEachTable 'DELETE FROM ?' -- Uncomment to execute
EXEC sp_MSForEachTable 'ALTER TABLE ? CHECK CONSTRAINT ALL'
EXEC sp_MSForEachTable 'ALTER TABLE ? ENABLE TRIGGER ALL'

truncate did not work for me, delete + reseed is the best way out. In case there are some of you out there who need to iterate over huge number of tables to perform delete + reseed, you might run into issues with some tables which does not have an identity column, the following code checks if identity column exist before attempting to reseed

    EXEC ('DELETE FROM [schemaName].[tableName]')
	IF EXISTS (Select * from sys.identity_columns where object_name(object_id) = 'tableName')
	BEGIN
		EXEC ('DBCC CHECKIDENT ([schemaName.tableName], RESEED, 0)')
	END

I write the following ways and tried to parameterized them, so you can Run them in a Query document Or Make a useful SP with them easily. A) Delete

If your table has not millions of records this works good and hasn't any Alter commands:

---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------- Just Fill Parameters Value ----------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
DECLARE @DbName AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'MyDb'         --< Db Name
DECLARE @Schema AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'dbo'          --< Schema
DECLARE @TableName AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'Book'      --< Table Name
------------------ /Just Fill Parameters Value ----------------

DECLARE @Query AS NVARCHAR(500) = 'Delete FROM ' + @TableName

EXECUTE sp_executesql @Query
SET @Query=@DbName+'.'+@Schema+'.'+@TableName
DBCC CHECKIDENT (@Query,RESEED, 0)

> - In above answer of mine the method of resolve the mentioned problem in the question is based on @s15199d answer.

B) Truncate

If your table has millions of records or you hasn't any problem with Alter command in your codes, then use this one:

--   Book                               Student
--
--   |  BookId  | Field1 |              | StudentId |  BookId  |
--   ---------------------              ------------------------ 
--   |    1     |    A   |  			|     2     |    1     |  
--   |    2     |    B   |  			|     1     |    1     |
--   |    3     |    C   |  			|     2     |    3     |  

---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------- Just Fill Parameters Value ----------------
---------------------------------------------------------------
DECLARE @DbName AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'MyDb'
DECLARE @Schema AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'dbo'
DECLARE @TableName_ToTruncate AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'Book'

DECLARE @TableName_OfOwnerOfConstraint AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'Student' --< Decelations About FK_Book_Constraint
DECLARE @Ref_ColumnName_In_TableName_ToTruncate AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'BookId' --< Decelations About FK_Book_Constraint
DECLARE @FK_ColumnName_In_TableOfOwnerOfConstraint AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'Fk_BookId' --< Decelations About FK_Book_Constraint
DECLARE @FK_ConstraintName AS NVARCHAR(30) = 'FK_Book_Constraint'                --< Decelations About FK_Book_Constraint
------------------ /Just Fill Parameters Value ----------------

DECLARE @Query AS NVARCHAR(2000)

SET @Query= 'ALTER TABLE '+@TableName_OfOwnerOfConstraint+' DROP CONSTRAINT '+@FK_ConstraintName
EXECUTE sp_executesql @Query

SET @Query= 'Truncate Table '+ @TableName_ToTruncate
EXECUTE sp_executesql @Query

SET @Query= 'ALTER TABLE '+@TableName_OfOwnerOfConstraint+' ADD CONSTRAINT '+@FK_ConstraintName+' FOREIGN KEY('+@FK_ColumnName_In_TableOfOwnerOfConstraint+') REFERENCES '+@TableName_ToTruncate+'('+@Ref_ColumnName_In_TableName_ToTruncate+')'
EXECUTE sp_executesql @Query

> - In above answer of mine the method of resolve the mentioned problem in the question is based on @LauroWolffValenteSobrinho answer. > > - If you have more than one CONSTRAINT then you should append its codes like me to the above query

> - Also you can change the above code base @SerjSagan answer to disable an enable the constraint

The only way is to drop foreign keys before doing the truncate. And after truncating the data, you must re-create the indexes.

The following script generates the required SQL for dropping all foreign key constraints.

DECLARE @drop NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'';

SELECT @drop += N'
ALTER TABLE ' + QUOTENAME(cs.name) + '.' + QUOTENAME(ct.name) 
    + ' DROP CONSTRAINT ' + QUOTENAME(fk.name) + ';'
FROM sys.foreign_keys AS fk
INNER JOIN sys.tables AS ct
  ON fk.parent_object_id = ct.[object_id]
INNER JOIN sys.schemas AS cs 
  ON ct.[schema_id] = cs.[schema_id];

SELECT @drop

Next, the following script generates the required SQL for re-creating foreign keys.

DECLARE @create NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'';

SELECT @create += N'
ALTER TABLE ' 
   + QUOTENAME(cs.name) + '.' + QUOTENAME(ct.name) 
   + ' ADD CONSTRAINT ' + QUOTENAME(fk.name) 
   + ' FOREIGN KEY (' + STUFF((SELECT ',' + QUOTENAME(c.name)
   -- get all the columns in the constraint table
    FROM sys.columns AS c 
    INNER JOIN sys.foreign_key_columns AS fkc 
    ON fkc.parent_column_id = c.column_id
    AND fkc.parent_object_id = c.[object_id]
    WHERE fkc.constraint_object_id = fk.[object_id]
    ORDER BY fkc.constraint_column_id 
    FOR XML PATH(N''), TYPE).value(N'.[1]', N'nvarchar(max)'), 1, 1, N'')
  + ') REFERENCES ' + QUOTENAME(rs.name) + '.' + QUOTENAME(rt.name)
  + '(' + STUFF((SELECT ',' + QUOTENAME(c.name)
   -- get all the referenced columns
    FROM sys.columns AS c 
    INNER JOIN sys.foreign_key_columns AS fkc 
    ON fkc.referenced_column_id = c.column_id
    AND fkc.referenced_object_id = c.[object_id]
    WHERE fkc.constraint_object_id = fk.[object_id]
    ORDER BY fkc.constraint_column_id 
    FOR XML PATH(N''), TYPE).value(N'.[1]', N'nvarchar(max)'), 1, 1, N'') + ');'
FROM sys.foreign_keys AS fk
INNER JOIN sys.tables AS rt -- referenced table
  ON fk.referenced_object_id = rt.[object_id]
INNER JOIN sys.schemas AS rs 
  ON rt.[schema_id] = rs.[schema_id]
INNER JOIN sys.tables AS ct -- constraint table
  ON fk.parent_object_id = ct.[object_id]
INNER JOIN sys.schemas AS cs 
  ON ct.[schema_id] = cs.[schema_id]
WHERE rt.is_ms_shipped = 0 AND ct.is_ms_shipped = 0;

SELECT @create

Run the generated script to drop all foreign keys, truncate tables, and then run the generated script to re-create all foreign keys.

The queries are taken from here.

It's my solution of this issue. I used it for altering PK, but idea the same. Hope this will be useful)

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'

For MS SQL, at least the newer versions, you can just disable the constrains with code like this:

ALTER TABLE Orders
NOCHECK CONSTRAINT [FK_dbo.Orders_dbo.Customers_Customer_Id]
GO

TRUNCATE TABLE Customers
GO

ALTER TABLE Orders
WITH CHECK CHECK CONSTRAINT [FK_dbo.Orders_dbo.Customers_Customer_Id]
GO

The following works for me even with FK constraints, and combines the following answers to only drop the specified tables:

• Transaction Automatic Rollback
• Looping through comma-separated list
• Executing Dynamic SQL (with table names from variable)
• DELETE and RESEED table (in this thread)

---

USE [YourDB];

DECLARE @TransactionName varchar(20) = 'stopdropandroll';

BEGIN TRAN @TransactionName;
set xact_abort on; /* automatic rollback https://stackoverflow.com/a/1749788/1037948 */
	-- ===== DO WORK // =====

	-- dynamic sql placeholder
	DECLARE @SQL varchar(300);

	-- LOOP: https://stackoverflow.com/a/10031803/1037948
	-- list of things to loop
	DECLARE @delim char = ';';
	DECLARE @foreach varchar(MAX) = 'Table;Names;Separated;By;Delimiter' + @delim + 'AnotherName' + @delim + 'Still Another';
	DECLARE @token varchar(MAX);
	WHILE len(@foreach) > 0
	BEGIN
		-- set current loop token
		SET @token = left(@foreach, charindex(@delim, @foreach+@delim)-1)
		-- ======= DO WORK // ===========
			
		-- dynamic sql (parentheses are required): https://stackoverflow.com/a/989111/1037948
		SET @SQL = 'DELETE FROM [' + @token + ']; DBCC CHECKIDENT (''' + @token + ''',RESEED, 0);'; -- https://stackoverflow.com/a/11784890
		PRINT @SQL;
		EXEC (@SQL);
		
		-- ======= // END WORK ===========
		-- continue loop, chopping off token
		SET @foreach = stuff(@foreach, 1, charindex(@delim, @foreach+@delim), '')
	END

	-- ===== // END WORK =====
-- review and commit
SELECT @@TRANCOUNT as TransactionsPerformed, @@ROWCOUNT as LastRowsChanged;
COMMIT TRAN @TransactionName;

---

Note:

I think it still helps to declare the tables in the order you want them deleted (i.e. kill dependencies first). As seen in this answer, rather than loop specific names you could substitute all tables with

EXEC sp_MSForEachTable 'DELETE FROM ?; DBCC CHECKIDENT (''?'',RESEED, 0);';

If none of these answers worked like in my case do this:

1. Drop constraints
2. Set all values to allow nulls
3. Truncate table
4. Add constraints that were dropped.

Good luck!

Delete then reset auto-increment:

delete from tablename;

then

ALTER TABLE tablename AUTO_INCREMENT = 1;

In SSMS I had Diagram open showing the Key. After deleting the Key and truncating the file I refreshed then focused back on the Diagram and created an update by clearing then restoring an Identity box. Saving the Diagram brought up a Save dialog box, than a "Changes were made in the database while you where working" dialog box, clicking Yes restored the Key, restoring it from the latched copy in the Diagram.

If you're doing this at any sort of a frequency, heck even on a schedule, I would absolutely, unequivocally never use a DML statement. The cost of writing to the transaction log is just to high, and setting the entire database into SIMPLE recovery mode to truncate one table is ridiculous.

The best way, is unfortunately the hard or laborious way. That being:

• Drop constraints
• Truncate table
• Re-create constraints

My process for doing this involves the following steps:

1. In SSMS right-click on the table in question, and select View Dependencies
2. Take note of the tables referenced (if any)
3. Back in object explorer, expand the Keys node and take note of the foreign keys (if any)
4. Start scripting (drop / truncate / re-create)

Scripts of this nature should be done within a begin tran and commit tran block.

This is an example for someone that use Entity Framework

• Table to be reset: Foo

• Another table that depends on: Bar

• Constraint Column on table Foo : FooColumn

• Constraint Column on table Bar : BarColumn

   public override void Down()
   {
       DropForeignKey("dbo.Bar", "BarColumn", "dbo.Foo");
       Sql("TRUNCATE TABLE Foo");
       AddForeignKey("dbo.Bar", "BarColumn", "dbo.Foo", "FooColumn", cascadeDelete: true);
   }
  

You could try DELETE FROM <your table >;.

The server will show you the name of the restriction and the table, and deleting that table you can delete what you need.

I have just found that you can use TRUNCATE table on a parent table with foreign key constraints on a child as long as you DISABLE the constraints on the child table first. E.g.

Foreign key CONSTRAINT child_par_ref on child table, references PARENT_TABLE

ALTER TABLE CHILD_TABLE DISABLE CONSTRAINT child_par_ref;
TRUNCATE TABLE CHILD_TABLE;
TRUNCATE TABLE PARENT_TABLE;
ALTER TABLE CHILD_TABLE ENABLE CONSTRAINT child_par_ref;

The easiest way:
1 - Enter in phpmyadmin
2 - Click on table name in left column
3 - Click in Operation (top menu)
4 - Click "Empty the table (TRUNCATE)
5 - Disable box "Enable foreign key checks"
6 - Done!

Link to image tutorial
Tutorial: http://www.imageno.com/wz6gv1wuqajrpic.html
(sorry, I don't have enough reputation to upload images here :P)

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

reference - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5452760/truncate-foreign-key-constrained-table

Working for me in MYSQL