Referential integrity

Concept

Database rule that every reference to another record must point to a record that exists, so links between tables cannot break; Dataverse enforces it for lookup relationships while SharePoint lookup columns do not.

Title graphic: Referential integrity (Concept)

Type	Concept
Wikipedia	en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referential_integrity

Key points about Referential integrity

Scanning forces referential integrity at ingestion rather than being a phone camera gimmick. · Track Inventory with Power Apps Barcode Scanning
Dataverse offers relational schema with referential integrity, role and field-level security and managed environments for dev, test and prod. · Dataverse vs SharePoint for Power Apps…

Episodes about Referential integrity

Dataverse - Simply Explained

2026-07-14 · Video on YouTube

Dataverse is Microsoft's intelligent cloud data platform that powers Power Apps, Power Automate, Dynamics 365, and the wider Power Platform. While many people think of it as just another database, Dataverse is much more than that. It provides secure…

Track Inventory with Power Apps Barcode Scanning

2025-11-07 · Video on YouTube

Most “inventory systems” are just Excel sheets LARPing as ERPs — and that’s why warehouses lose assets, fail audits, and end up with phantom spreadsheets nobody trusts. Barcode scanning isn’t a gimmick — it’s the only sane way to ingest perfect data into…

Dataverse vs SharePoint for Power Apps Governance

2025-11-03 · Video on YouTube

SharePoint Lists feel “free” and familiar, so teams prototype apps on them—and then accidentally build departments on sand. As lists multiply, you get broken lookups, 5k-item throttling, rogue permissions, attachment bloat, and schema drift. Governance…

Timeline of episodes about Referential integrity

Articles about Referential integrity (2)

Mastering CRUD Operations and Change Tracking in LINQ to SQL
2026-08-12 · Mirko Peters
Welcome back to the podcast! Today, we are expanding on our recent discussions about data access strategies. If you want to catch up on the foundational debates sur…
Mastering the 4 Pillars of Microsoft Fabric Monitoring
2026-08-11 · Mirko Peters
Welcome back to the podcast companion blog! In today's post, we are expanding heavily on a topic that keeps data engineers up at night: moving from endless reactive…

Frequently asked questions

Why use barcode scanning in Power Apps for inventory?

It gets accurate data into Dataverse once instead of typing it twice. The episode says scanning enforces referential integrity at ingestion, rather than being a phone camera gimmick. · From the episode: Track Inventory with Power Apps Barcode Scanning

What does referential integrity at ingestion mean?

Data is validated and linked to the right records when it is captured. Errors are prevented at the source rather than fixed later, which is why the moment you scan, Dataverse locks reality to a record. · From the episode: Track Inventory with Power Apps Barcode Scanning

What does Dataverse provide that SharePoint Lists do not?

A governed data backbone with relational schema and referential integrity, role and field-level security, managed environments for dev, test and prod, and DLP and retention through Purview. · From the episode: Dataverse vs SharePoint for Power Apps…

Glossary

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Sources

Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referential_integrity
Feed for this topic (RSS): entity/referential-integrity/feed.xml
M365.FM episodes on this topic: 3
Articles on this topic: 2

Maintained by Mirko Peters (Microsoft MVP) · Last updated: 2026-11-03