ValidateRelations Method

Overview

The ValidateRelations extension method validates referential integrity using the relation metadata stored in IDataSet.Relations.

In POCO DataSet, relations are stored as metadata (table/column pairs). Navigation and integrity checks are performed by extensions (for example, GetChildRows, TryGetParentRow, and EnsureRelationsValid). ValidateRelations is the non-throwing API: it returns a list of violations you can inspect and decide how to handle.

Declaration

/// <summary>
/// Validates referential integrity based on <see cref="IDataSet.Relations"/>.
/// The current POCO DataSet core model stores relations as metadata only; this extension performs the
/// integrity checks when you need them (e.g., before SaveChanges, before AcceptChanges, etc.).
/// </summary>
/// <param name="dataSet">Data set</param>
/// <param name="options">Validation options (optional)</param>
/// <returns>List of violations (empty if none)</returns>
public static List<RelationIntegrityViolation> ValidateRelations(this IDataSet? dataSet, RelationValidationOptions? options = null)

Namespace and Assembly

Namespace: PocoDataSet.Extensions
Assembly: PocoDataSet.Extensions

Parameters

• dataSet: The data set whose relations should be validated. If null, an empty list is returned.
• options: Optional validation options. When not provided, defaults are used via new RelationValidationOptions().

Return Value

Returns a List<RelationIntegrityViolation>. If validation finds no issues, the list is empty.

Example

The example below shows a typical workflow:

• Build tables and register a relation.
• Validate before saving to ensure there are no orphan child rows.
• Add an orphan child row and re-run validation to get a structured violation list.
• Optionally relax orphan checks when validating sparse changesets.

// Build a DataSet with two tables:
// Customers (parent) and Orders (child)
IDataSet dataSet = new DataSet();

IDataTable customers = new DataTable("Customers");
customers.AddColumn("Id", typeof(int), isPrimaryKey: true);
customers.AddColumn("Name", typeof(string));
dataSet.AddTable(customers);

IDataTable orders = new DataTable("Orders");
orders.AddColumn("OrderId", typeof(int), isPrimaryKey: true);
orders.AddColumn("CustomerId", typeof(int));
orders.AddColumn("Status", typeof(string));
dataSet.AddTable(orders);

// Relation metadata: Customers.Id -> Orders.CustomerId
dataSet.AddRelation(
"CustomerOrders",
"Customers",
new List<string> { "Id" },
"Orders",
new List<string> { "CustomerId" });

// Parent row
IDataRow c1 = DataRowExtensions.CreateRowFromColumns(customers.Columns);
c1["Id"] = 1;
c1["Name"] = "Acme";
customers.AddLoadedRow(c1);

// Child row (valid)
IDataRow o10 = DataRowExtensions.CreateRowFromColumns(orders.Columns);
o10["OrderId"] = 10;
o10["CustomerId"] = 1;
o10["Status"] = "Open";
orders.AddLoadedRow(o10);

// Validate: no violations
List<RelationIntegrityViolation> ok = dataSet.ValidateRelations();
// ok.Count == 0

// Child row (orphan: CustomerId=999 does not exist in Customers.Id)
IDataRow o11 = DataRowExtensions.CreateRowFromColumns(orders.Columns);
o11["OrderId"] = 11;
o11["CustomerId"] = 999;
o11["Status"] = "Open";
orders.AddLoadedRow(o11);

List<RelationIntegrityViolation> violations = dataSet.ValidateRelations();
// violations.Count == 1
// violations[0].Kind == RelationIntegrityViolationKind.OrphanChildRow

// For sparse changesets you may disable orphan checks:
RelationValidationOptions options = new RelationValidationOptions();
options.EnforceOrphanChecks = false;

List<RelationIntegrityViolation> definitionOnly = dataSet.ValidateRelations(options);
// definitionOnly will only include "invalid definition" / "delete restrict" problems (depending on options)

Notes

• Use ValidateRelations when you want to display a friendly error list to the user or log diagnostics without throwing.
• Use EnsureRelationsValid when you want an exception to fail fast if any violation exists.
• When validating sparse changesets (for example, a changeset table that contains only the rows you edited), orphan checks may not be meaningful. In such cases, set RelationValidationOptions.EnforceOrphanChecks to false.

 

Table of Content POCO DataSet DataSet Members

 

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Business Process Programming in .Net
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