title: Do I need to drop a foreign key on one table to delete a row on another using oracle?
body: <p>I have two tables</p>
  
  <pre><code>Parent table
  
  (account_number     varchar(15)    not null,
  
  branch_name        varchar(50)    not null,
  
  balance         number not null,
  
  primary key(account_number));
  
  
  
  
  
  Child table
  
  account_number     varchar(15)    not null,
  
  foreign key(account_number) references parent table(account_number));
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I am trying this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>DELETE FROM parent table
  
  WHERE balances &gt; 1000;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I am deleting accounts by balances on the parent but I get an error message about the child relationship.</p>
  
  <p>My assumption is a DELETE CASCADE has to be added to the foreign key in the child table.  All the documentation shows how to alter the table when the constraint is named. I do not have that situation.  Is there a way to do it, or do I have to specify the cascade in the delete statement I am writing?</p>