Referential Integrity in the Demodata Sample Database
This section describes the referential integrity (RI) design in the university sample database.
Figure 4 depicts the referential constraints that exist among the various tables in the university database. The boxes represent tables. The unidirectional-directional arrow implies a referential constraint from the parent table to the referencing table. For example, in constraint number 16 a foreign key exists in the Class table that references a primary key in its parent table, Course.
Figure 4 RI Structure in the Sample Database
*Note: Figure 4 also serves as a dependency graph. It tells you what tables must be populated before others when doing the physical design.
The tables, columns, and keys participating in RI are defined as follows: