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The previous two chapters described how the Business Rules Repository can be
designed to hold table and column metadata, and how this metadata can be extracted
from a data model and loaded into the Repository. Relationships are the third major
component of a data model that need to be dealt with. However, they are not quite
as straightforward as tables and columns. Relationships are sometimes missing from
data models. This is especially true if the data models are created through reverse-
engineering from existing databases without declared foreign keys. Unfortunately, this
is a problem for anyone building a business rules engine. As has been emphasized in
earlier chapters, it is vital to have a data model of the business area on which the rules ...