Error Message:
Msg 1767, Level 16, State 0, Line 1
Foreign key ‘%.*ls’ references invalid table ‘%.*ls’.
Severity level:
16.
Description:
This error message appears when you try to create a FOREIGN KEY constraint that references an invalid table.
Consequences:
The T-SQL statement can be parsed, but causes the error at runtime.
Resolution:
Error of the Severity Level 16 are generated by the user and can be fixed by the SQL Server user. The statement cannot be executed this way. FOREIGN KEY constraints can only reference tables that do exist at the point of creation.
Versions:
All versions of SQL Server.
Example(s):
USE tempdb;
GO
IF OBJECT_ID(‘tempdb..t’) > 0
DROP TABLE t
GO
CREATE TABLE t
(
c1 INT
CONSTRAINT FK_t_t1_c1 FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES t1(c1)
)
GO
Remarks:
In the above example we try to create a FOREING KEY constraint for a table in tempDB that references another table in tempDB which doesn’t exist. This raises the error.