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Databases & SQL vocabulary · Keys and Constraints

Referential integrity

Meaning in databases & SQL, with examples

/ˌrɛfəˈrɛnʃəl ɪnˈtɛɡrəti/nounCommon term

In databases & SQL, referential integrity means: The rule that every reference between tables must point to a row that really exists, so there are no orders for missing customers.

In Turkish: referans bütünlüğü, ilişkisel bütünlük

How it is used

Enforced by foreign keys. When it breaks, you get 'orphan' or 'orphaned' rows. It is a common topic in design reviews and data quality reports, and the main argument for keeping foreign keys in the database instead of only in code.

Example sentences

  1. Without foreign keys we lost referential integrity and found 3,000 orphaned order lines.

  2. The database enforces referential integrity, so you can't delete a category that still has products.

Common collocations

  • enforce referential integrity
  • break referential integrity
  • orphaned rows
  • data integrity
  • foreign keyA column in one table that points to the primary key of another table, linking the two and stopping you from storing references to rows that do not exist.
  • cascadeOf a delete or update: to pass automatically from a parent row to all the child rows that point to it through a foreign key.
  • constraintA rule set on a table or column that the database enforces automatically, rejecting any data that would break it.
  • primary keyA column, or a set of columns, whose value uniquely identifies each row in a table. It cannot be empty and no two rows can share it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Keys and Constraints

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