From: Neal Lindsay <neal.lindsay@peaofohio.com>
Subject: Re: Inheritence and Integrity
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 15:39:49 -0500
Organization: Hub.Org Networking Services (http://www.hub.org)
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References: <20030129121750.N14196-100000@megazone23.bigpanda.com>
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In-Reply-To: <20030129121750.N14196-100000@megazone23.bigpanda.com>
To: pgsql-sql@postgresql.org

Stephan Szabo wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Neal Lindsay wrote:
>>I am creating a database that will keep track of several different types
>>of 'events'. I am toying with the idea of making a base 'class' table
>>for the tables because a lot of the information will be the same (also
>>there will probably be times I just need to get the basic information
>>about events regardless of their type). My question is: will triggers
>>and rules on the parent table fire when I insert data in the child
>>tables? Are there any other potential pitfalls?
> 
> 
> Currently that won't do what you want because triggers are not inherited
> and the constraint is set up so the references constraint ends up being
> only on the rows in parenttable.  In addition, the primary key constraint
> won't do what you probably want either, although since it's a serial, you
> won't be likely to notice.
> 

So what you're saying is that I could insert a duplicate primary key 
into the parent table by inserting an explicit value in that field in my 
child table? And if I leave that column out of my insert statement the 
"default nextval()" will still make it a unique value?

If that is so, is there a way to make constraint that will keep primary 
keys unique across all the child tables of my parent table?

-Neal Lindsay