How can I list all foreign keys referencing a given table in SQL Server?

I need to remove a highly referenced table in a SQL Server database. How can I get a list of all the foreign key constraints I will need to remove in order to drop the table?

(SQL answers preferable over clicking about in the GUI of the management studio.)


Not sure why no one suggested but I use sp_fkeys to query foreign keys for a given table:

EXEC sp_fkeys 'TableName'

You can also specify the schema:

EXEC sp_fkeys @pktable_name = 'TableName', @pktable_owner = 'dbo'

Without specifying the schema, the docs state the following:

If pktable_owner is not specified, the default table visibility rules of the underlying DBMS apply.

In SQL Server, if the current user owns a table with the specified name, that table's columns are returned. If pktable_owner is not specified and the current user does not own a table with the specified pktable_name, the procedure looks for a table with the specified pktable_name owned by the database owner. If one exists, that table's columns are returned.


I'd use the Database Diagramming feature in SQL Server Management Studio, but since you ruled that out - this worked for me in SQL Server 2008 (don't have 2005).

To get list of referring table and column names...

select 
    t.name as TableWithForeignKey, 
    fk.constraint_column_id as FK_PartNo, c.
    name as ForeignKeyColumn 
from 
    sys.foreign_key_columns as fk
inner join 
    sys.tables as t on fk.parent_object_id = t.object_id
inner join 
    sys.columns as c on fk.parent_object_id = c.object_id and fk.parent_column_id = c.column_id
where 
    fk.referenced_object_id = (select object_id 
                               from sys.tables 
                               where name = 'TableOthersForeignKeyInto')
order by 
    TableWithForeignKey, FK_PartNo

To get names of foreign key constraints

select distinct name from sys.objects where object_id in 
(   select fk.constraint_object_id from sys.foreign_key_columns as fk
    where fk.referenced_object_id = 
        (select object_id from sys.tables where name = 'TableOthersForeignKeyInto')
)