Propagation constraint: Difference between revisions

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In database systems, a '''propagation constraint''' "details what should happen to a related table when we update a row or rows of a target table" (Paul Beynon-Davies, 2004, p.108). Tables are linked using [[primary key]] to [[foreign key]] relationships. It is possible for users to update one table in a relationship in such a way that the relationship is no longer consistent and this is known as breaking [[referential integrity]]. An example of breaking referential integrity: if a table of employees includes a department number for 'Housewares' which is a foreign key to a table of departments and a user deletes that department from the department table then Housewares employees records would refer to a non-existent department number.

According to Beynon-Davies (2004, p.108) "''[a] propagation constaint details what should happen to a related table when we update a row or rows of a target table''". He further states that for all [[relationship]]s, one should define how to handle deletions of target and related [[tuple]]s. There are three possibilities:

* Restricted Delete - cannot delete the target row until all rows that point to it (via [[foreign key]]s) have been deleted.

* Cascades Delete - can delete the target row and all rows that point to it (via foreign keys) are also deleted.

* Nullifies Delete - can delete the target row and all foreign keys (pointing to it) are set to [[null]].

Propagation constraints are methods used by [[relational database management system]]s (RDBMS) to solve this problem by ensuring that relationships between tables are preserved without error. In his database textbook, Beynon-Davies explains the three ways that RDBMS handle deletions of target and related [[tuple]]s:

Beynon-Davies, P. (2004) ''Database Systems'' Third Edition, Palgrave.

* '''Restricted Delete''' - the user cannot delete the target row until all rows that point to it (via [[foreign key]]s) have been deleted. This means that all Housewares employees would need to be deleted, or their departments changed, before removing the department from the departmental table.

* '''Cascades Delete''' - can delete the target row and all rows that point to it (via foreign keys) are also deleted. The process is the same as a restricted delete, except that the RDBMS would delete the Houseware employees automatically before removing the department.

* '''Nullifies Delete''' - can delete the target row and all foreign keys (pointing to it) are set to [[Null (SQL)|null]]. In this case, after removing the housewares department, employees who worked in this department would have a [[Null (SQL)|NULL]] (unknown) value for their department.

==Bibliography==

[[Category:Data modeling]]

*Beynon-Davies, P. (2004) ''Database Systems'' Third Edition, [[Palgrave Macmillan]].

[[Category:Relational database management systems]]

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