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Referential integrity is a property of data stating that all its references are valid. In the context of relational databases , it requires that if a value of one attribute (column) of a relation (table) references a value of another attribute (either in the same or a different relation), then the referenced value must exist.
An example of a data-integrity mechanism is the parent-and-child relationship of related records. If a parent record owns one or more related child records all of the referential integrity processes are handled by the database itself, which automatically ensures the accuracy and integrity of the data so that no child record can exist without a parent (also called being orphaned) and that no ...
When surrogate keys supplant natural keys, then domain specific referential integrity will be compromised. For example, in a customer master table, the same customer may have multiple records under separate customer IDs, even though the natural key (a combination of customer name, date of birth, and e-mail address) would be unique.
Third normal form (3NF) is a database schema design approach for relational databases which uses normalizing principles to reduce the duplication of data, avoid data anomalies, ensure referential integrity, and simplify data management.
Database normalization is the process of structuring a relational database accordance with a series of so-called normal forms in order to reduce data redundancy and improve data integrity. It was first proposed by British computer scientist Edgar F. Codd as part of his relational model.
Referential integrity statements [ edit ] Another type of DDL sentence in SQL is used to define referential integrity relationships, usually implemented as primary key and foreign key tags in some columns of the tables.
Entity integrity is concerned with ensuring that each row of a table has a unique and non-null primary key value; this is the same as saying that each row in a table represents a single instance of the entity type modelled by the table.
It is particularly important in databases with referential integrity, third normal form, or perfect key. "Data hierarchy" is the result of proper arrangement of data without redundancy. Avoiding redundancy eventually leads to proper "data hierarchy" representing the relationship between data, and revealing its relational structure.