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A unique key is comprised of a single column or a set of columns that can be used to uniquely identify a single row in a table. No two rows in a table can have the same non-Null value(s) in the column(s) that comprise the unique key. A table may have more than one unique key.

Example:

Suppose we have a table called "employees" in an employee database, and that table contains the following columns:

FirstName, LastName, EmployeeID, HireDate, SSN, DateOfBirth, Department, JobTitle

This table has at least two unique keys, EmployeeID and SSN (social security number) since both values are defined as being globally unique. In addition, {FirstName, LastName, EmployeeID} is also a unique key, as are any combination of columns that, when combined, exist in one and only one row in the table.

In this example, EmployeeID and SSN are both minimal unique keys. On their own, they each exist in one and only one row. Any unique key in a table can be the table's primary key. There is one and only one primary key in a table.

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