Evan.....

And just where do you think that application based RI would go? I am going to take a stab and say the data-services tier. The data-services tier is part of the application...no??

Evan, if you are going to make a cite, please do so with one that addresses the issue in the context of n-tier design. I think you may have to stray beyond the VS docs...<s>.

After all, you started this thread by asking which tier the RI belongs.... The cite you give below does not address n-tier design at all. In fact, it uses a mainframe storage mechanism to outline a reason why an app would have to define the RI.

Please point out in the cite below where it says that RI rules DO NOT belong in the data services tier.....

Your move..<bg>


>Here is a citation from the MSDN which contradicts yours. See the document called "Defining Business Rules for Data Access" in "Using Visual Studio"
>
>"One of the most common uses for business rules is handling the referential integrity processes for indexed files. Because indexed files (such as VSAM) are typically just raw data storage engines, your application must provide custom code to handle constraints, foreign key deletions, and other common referential integrity issues. Application-based referential integrity can also be appropriate for relational databases, especially in situations where the available triggers, constraints, and stored procedures are either inadequate or too complicated."