The ALTER TABLE statement conflicted with the FOREIGN KEY constraint

Why does add a foreign key to the tblDomare table result in this error?

The ALTER TABLE statement conflicted with the FOREIGN KEY constraint "FK__tblDomare__PersN__5F7E2DAC". The conflict occurred in database "almu0004", table "dbo.tblBana", column 'BanNR'.

Code

CREATE TABLE tblDomare
(PersNR VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
fNamn VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
eNamn VARCHAR (20) NOT NULL,
Erfarenhet VARCHAR (5),
PRIMARY KEY (PersNR));

INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (6811034679,'Bengt','Carlberg',10);

INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (7606091347,'Josefin','Backman',4);

INSERT INTO tblDomare (PersNR,fNamn,eNamn,Erfarenhet)
Values (8508284163,'Johanna','Backman',1);

CREATE TABLE tblBana
(BanNR VARCHAR (15) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (BanNR));

INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (1);

INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (2);

INSERT INTO tblBana (BanNR)
Values (3);

ALTER TABLE tblDomare
ADD FOREIGN KEY (PersNR)
REFERENCES tblBana(BanNR);

It occurred because you tried to create a foreign key from tblDomare.PersNR to tblBana.BanNR but/and the values in tblDomare.PersNR didn't match with any of the values in tblBana.BanNR. You cannot create a relation which violates referential integrity.

This query was very useful for me. It shows all values that don't have any matches

select FK_column from FK_table
WHERE FK_column NOT IN
(SELECT PK_column from PK_table)

Try this solution:

There is a data item in your table whose associated value doesn't exist in the table you want to use it as a primary key table. Make your table empty or add the associated value to the second table.

It is possible to create the foreign key using ALTER TABLE tablename WITH NOCHECK ..., which will allow data that violates the foreign key.

"ALTER TABLE tablename WITH NOCHECK ..." option to add the FK -- This solution worked for me.