Relationships at table level... any reason besides documentation?

[sstiebinger]

Hopefully the title sums it up.. basically I'm wondering if there's any reason that I SHOULD define relationships at the table level?

Note, this question is in the context that users will never directly access the tables, all interaction will be through forms.

Furthermore, are there reasons I should NOT define relationships at the table level?



The relationship documenter certainly seems like a nice tool for understanding table relationships... but since it only shows table level relationships it can never really be trusted to be a complete picture of the database. Bearing that in mind, what reason is there to define relationships at the table level at all?

[orange]

I suggest you research Referential Integrity and relational database concepts.
It isn't because the users' don't have direct access to tables, it is the underlying database software that interacts with the database structure and enforces rules. It is the software's job to maintain key constraints, relationships and business rules -that is, maintain referential integrity. Without it, users are free to add any data they want where ever they want. So mismatched records and orphans could exist in the database.

[CJ_London]

As Orange says, relationships are part of the rules of how the tables work together. That does not mean that when you write queries that it forces you into a straight jacket of the relationship definitions, but would prevent you from running an action query that would result in breaking those rules.