what is referential integrity
Referential integrity is a database constraint that ensures. that references between data are indeed valid and intact. Referential integrity is a fundamental principle of database. theory and arises from the notion that a database should not. only store data, but should actively seek to ensure its qual-. ity. Here are some additional definitions that we found on. the Web. â¢ âReferential integrity in a relational database is consis-. tency between coupled tables. Referential integrity is. usually enforced by the combination of a primary key. and a foreign key.