Re: Enforcing Referential Integrity: Pros vs. Cons?

Richard Hollenbeck wrote:
> I'm not an ABSOLUTE newbie, but probably a relative newbie compared
to many
> in this group. I've been programming in Access using VBA with DAO.
Ever
> since I began, I thought it would ALWAYS been better to enforce
referential
> integrity with cascading deletes and cascading updates to keep data
> synchronized among related tables. My thoughts were influenced by
the idea
> that if a database were properly normalized, there should not be a
reason
> why I shouldn't enforce this referential integrity. Am I correct or
not?
> Are there any reasons why I would not? I'm assuming there is a
reason
> because Access provides the option to enforce or not enforce. What
are some
> very valid reasons why one would choose to not enforce? Is not
enforcing
> just a cheap way to get around a poorly normalized database?

Always enforce integrity, yes - but not always (or even usually) with cascade deletes: that makes it just too easy to trash the database. Cascade deletes have their place, but need to be used cautiously. Received on Tue Nov 09 2004 - 11:23:29 CET