hello, consider a sample table: create table item (id serial, parent_id int, path varchar(256)); "id" is a unique identifier of each row, "parent_id" is an id of another row in the same table or null what is the right way in postgresql to ensure that the "path" field of a given row is a prefix of the "path" field of the row referenced by the "parent_id" field? check constraints? triggers? please advice, i am new. thanks in advance konstantin ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 1: if posting/reading through Usenet, please send an appropriate subscribe-nomail command to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx so that your message can get through to the mailing list cleanly