TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING PARTIAL REFERENTIAL INTEGRITY IN DATABASES

A lack of referential integrity in relational databases can lead to incomplete or lost data, often without any indication of errors, resulting in orphaned records. While standard referential integrity checks prevent orphaned rows by deleting, updating, or restricting actions, they cannot handle multiple or complex referential relationships. This study develops a module to enforce Partial Referential Integrity (PRI) checks for MySQL databases, addressing limitations of simple integrity constraints. Using the Structured Systems Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM), the module was designed and implemented in Java, leveraging stored procedures to execute operations on the database server and MySQL Workbench as the interface for query execution. The module validates or rejects data based on partial referential integrity rules, ensuring that database entries meet all defined constraints. Testing results indicate that although execution time increases slightly with the module, the system guarantees valid data, preserves database integrity, and minimizes redundant processing on the server. The study demonstrates that enforcing PRI enhances data reliability and strengthens relational database management systems in complex application environments