Error creating mysql table with Foreign Key - mysql

Question

I have researched thoroughly before asking this question including on this site.
I have a students table:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS students(
student_id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
first_name VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
middle_name VARCHAR(20),
last_name VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL,
email VARCHAR(60) NOT NULL,
password CHAR(40) NOT NULL,
reg_date DATETIME NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (student_id),
UNIQUE (email));
I also have a subjects table:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS subjects(
subject_id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
subject_name VARCHAR(40) NOT NULL,
level_of_entry VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
exam_board VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (subject_id));
I am now creating a table to link the above tables:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS entries(
exam_date DATETIME NOT NULL,
FOREIGN KEY (student_id) REFERENCES students (student_id),
FOREIGN KEY (subject_id) REFERENCES subjects (subject_id)
);
My problem is that when I try to declare the foreign keys in the third table called entries, I get an error stating that the subject_id foreign key is not in the table referenced.
ERROR 1072 (42000) : Key column 'student_id' doesn't exist in table, even though it is clearly contained inside the the students table and the same applies to 'subject_id' and the subject table.
I am certain that my syntax for declaring the foreign keys is correct so I am unsure how to fix the problem.
All help is appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

You forgot to create these two columns before applying your foreign key constraints :
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS entries(
exam_id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
student_id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
subject_id INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
exam_date DATETIME NOT NULL,
PRIMARY KEY (exam_id),
FOREIGN KEY (student_id) REFERENCES students (student_id),
FOREIGN KEY (subject_id) REFERENCES subjects (subject_id)
);
EDIT :
I advise you to add in every table a unique ID column (here : exam_id).