Cascading and updating in Microsoft Access 2019

Cascading means that if you change the content of a primary keyfield, then the updates to that field will ripple throughout thedatabase. If you don’t use cascading, and you try and edit a primaryfield that is connected to other related fields, you will receive anerror. When you enforce referential integrity, the delete and updatefunctions are normally prevented – unless the Cascade Update or Cascade Delete options are enforced, thenthe delete and update functions (called cascading) are allowed.

To set referential integrity and the cascade update or deleteoptions, right-click or double-click the relationship line between twotables in the Relationshipswindow.

We will open the database named MyAdminDB.accdb for thisexample in order to enforce referential integrity and cascadeupdates:

1. Click on Database Tools | Edit Relationships.
2. Double-click on the line between ElkPupilsTbl and FeeAccountsTbl to access the Edit Relationships dialog box.
3. Click on Enforce Referential Integrity and Cascade Update Related Fields. Click onOK to confirm and return to the Relationships window. Close the Relationships window:

4. The relationship is updated, along with any changes to the primarykey: for instance, if a pupil code is edited, it will also change allthe related fields in the other tables.