Question at position 50 A referential integrity constraint specifies that the existence of an attribute in one table depends upon the existence of a foreign key in the same or another table.TrueFalse

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The question asks about what a referential integrity constraint specifies about relationships between tables.
Option 1: True. If we interpret the statement literally as saying that the existence of an attribute in one table depends on the existence of a foreign key in the same or another table, this is not how referential integrity works. Referential integrity enforces that foreign key values must either be null (if allowed) or match an existing primary key value in the referenced table. It does not claim that an attribute’s existence is conditioned on the presence of a foreign key itself. In practice, a row can exist with a null foreign key (subject to schema constraints), and an attribute’s existence is not inherently tied to a foreign key’s existence. Therefore, this option misstates the constraint.
Option 2: False. This is the correct interpretation. Referential integrity ensures that a foreign key value must reference an existing row in the parent (referenced) table, or be null if allowed, thereby preserving valid relationships between tables. It does not state that the presence of an attribute depends on the existence of a foreign key, nor does it imply any such dependency beyond the validity of the foreign key value itself.
In summary, the notion that an attribute’s existence depends on a foreign key’s existence misrepresents how referential integrity is defined and enforced in relational databases. The integrity rule is about ensuring that foreign key values correspond to valid primary keys in the related table, not about tying attribute existence to the existence of a foreign key itself.

Question at position 50 A referential integrity constraint specifies that the existence of an attribute in one table depends upon the existence of a foreign key in the same or another table.TrueFalse

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