Nathan,
I think your second paragraph fairly summarizes the case for DB contstraints.
Attempting to ensure "External" code is written to protect the DB is
a pretty tall order, even within a single company/group of developers.
Once you open yourself to what "shops may chose" - well, that's game over,
I think.
I can think of one reason to avoid putting RI in the DB: when you do not have
a clear object definition. Very common in the "quick and dirty" world I
work in.
-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Nathan Andelin
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:06 PM
To: midrange list
Subject: Pros and Cons of DB defined Referential Integrity Constraints
Up until now I've been content with coding RI constraints in DB I/O modules. For example:
http://www.radile.com/rdweb/temp/sscd100db.txt
However, this week we've been cleaning up a mess in our database that was caused by our failing to implement an RI constraint in one of our programs. One might ask, where were our QA procedures? While that's a valid concern, the problem could have also been prevented if we added a step to our development process to define RI constraints using DDL or ADDPFCST whenever we add new tables to our database? We're adding new tables every month!
I suppose that one pro for using DB defined constraints is that you use a fairly simple declarative syntax as opposed to program logic. While we generally limit DB inserts and updates to a single RPG I/O module per table, I suppose that another pro for DB defined constraints is that they apply to any other interface that shops may chose to update the DB.
What about other pros and cons?
-Nathan
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