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Description

This error occurs when you attempt to define a PRIMARY KEY or UNIQUE constraint directly on a column that is also intended for a SPATIAL INDEX. MySQL's spatial indexing capabilities are designed for spatial data types and do not support the enforcement of uniqueness or primary key constraints on the spatial data itself.

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Error Message

Spatial indexes can't be primary or unique indexes.

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Known Causes

3 known causes

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PRIMARY KEY on Spatial Column

You tried to define a spatial column (e.g., GEOMETRY, POINT) as the PRIMARY KEY for the table.

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UNIQUE Constraint on Spatial Column

You attempted to apply a UNIQUE constraint directly to a column with a spatial data type.

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Conflicting Index Definitions

Your CREATE TABLE or ALTER TABLE statement included definitions that implicitly or explicitly combined a spatial index with a primary or unique constraint.

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Solutions

3 solutions available

1. Remove Primary Key Constraint from Spatial Column easy

Modify the table to remove the primary key constraint from the column that has a spatial index.

1

Identify the table and column that has the primary key constraint and is intended to have a spatial index. You can usually find this by looking at your `CREATE TABLE` statement or by inspecting the table schema.

2

Drop the existing primary key constraint from the table. If the spatial column is the *only* column with a primary key, you'll need to designate another column (or a combination of columns) as the new primary key. If the spatial column is part of a composite primary key, you'll need to restructure the primary key.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name DROP PRIMARY KEY;

3

If you removed the primary key and need to re-establish it on a different column(s), add a new primary key constraint.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD PRIMARY KEY (id_column);

4

Now, create the spatial index on the desired column. Ensure this column is of a spatial data type (e.g., `GEOMETRY`, `POINT`, `POLYGON`).

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD SPATIAL INDEX index_name (spatial_column_name);

2. Remove Unique Constraint from Spatial Column easy

Modify the table to remove the unique constraint from the column that has a spatial index.

1

Identify the table and column that has the unique constraint and is intended to have a spatial index. Examine your `CREATE TABLE` statement or use `SHOW INDEXES FROM your_table_name;` to identify unique indexes.

2

Drop the unique index. The command to drop an index is `DROP INDEX`. Note that unique indexes are also created using `CREATE UNIQUE INDEX` or implicitly with `ALTER TABLE ADD UNIQUE INDEX`.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name DROP INDEX index_name_of_unique_constraint;

3

Create the spatial index on the column. Make sure the column has a spatial data type.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD SPATIAL INDEX index_name (spatial_column_name);

3. Restructure Table for Separate Indexing medium

If the spatial data must also be uniquely identified, consider a surrogate key or a composite key that doesn't include the spatial column.

1

Analyze your data model. Determine if the spatial data itself needs to be unique, or if it's always associated with a unique identifier that is *not* the spatial column.

2

If you currently have a primary key on the spatial column, remove it.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name DROP PRIMARY KEY;

3

Add a new, non-spatial primary key column (e.g., an auto-incrementing integer) if one doesn't exist.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD COLUMN id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY FIRST;

4

Ensure your spatial column has a spatial data type.

5

Create the spatial index on the spatial column.

ALTER TABLE your_table_name ADD SPATIAL INDEX index_name (spatial_column_name);

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Related Errors

5 related errors

MySQL Error 3728: Invalid Spatial Index Definition