simple addition of constraints problem

Hi All,

I'm trying to do something which seems really simple to me. (Postgres 7.3.4)

I've got this table:

charter_dev2=# \d rcourseinfo
Table "public.rcourseinfo"
Column | Type | Modifiers
-------------+-----------------------+---------------------------------------------------
courseid | integer | not null default
nextval('rcourseinfo_seq'::text)
coursename | character varying(50) |
dept | character varying(30) |
number | character varying(4) |
section | character varying(2) |
trimester | character varying(5) |
schoolyear | character varying(8) |
facultyid | integer |
description | text |
credits | real |
Indexes: rcourseinfo_pkey primary key btree (courseid),
rcourseinfo_number_index btree (number)

With a primary key called 'courseid'.

I've got a second table:

charter_dev2=# \d coursesevaluations
Table "public.coursesevaluations"
Column | Type | Modifiers
-----------------------+---------+----------------------------------------------------------
courseid | integer |
evalid | integer |
coursesevaluations_id | integer | not null default
nextval('coursesevaluations_seq'::text)
Indexes: coursesevaluations_pkey primary key btree (coursesevaluations_id),
coursesevaluations_evalid_index btree (evalid)

I'd like to make 'courseid' in this second table a foreign key,
referencing 'courseid' in the first table. So I did this command:

charter_dev2=# ALTER TABLE coursesevaluations ADD CONSTRAINT rc_ce
FOREIGN KEY (courseid) REFERENCES rcourseinfo (courseid);

And I get this result:

NOTICE: ALTER TABLE will create implicit trigger(s) for FOREIGN KEY check(s)
ERROR: rc_ce referential integrity violation - key referenced from
coursesevaluations not found in rcourseinfo

This doesn't make any sense to me - the fields are named the same,
and are the same data type. I've pored over the docs, to no avail.
I'm sure I'm missing something really elementary, but it's escaping
me.

I did try the following (because the error said "key referenced"):
ALTER TABLE coursesevaluations ADD CONSTRAINT rc_ce FOREIGN KEY
(courseid) REFERENCES rcourseinfo (rcourseinfo_pkey);

I got the error :
ERROR: ALTER TABLE: column "rcourseinfo_pkey" referenced in foreign
key constraint does not exist

!!

Thanks for any advice.
--
.Michelle

--------------------------
Michelle Murrain
mmurrain at dbdes dot com
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