Use Triggers Versus Integrity Constraints

As an alternative to using triggers, you can use the referential integrity constraint of the create table statement to enforce referential integrity across tables in the database.

However, referential integrity constraints cannot:

Also, referential integrity constraints do not roll back the current transaction as a result of enforcing data integrity. With triggers, you can either roll back or continue the transaction, depending on how you handle referential integrity.

If your application requires one of the above tasks, use a trigger. Otherwise, use a referential integrity constraint to enforce data integrity. SAP ASE checks referential integrity constraints before it checks triggers so that a data modification statement that violates the constraint does not also fire the trigger.

Related concepts
Transactions: Maintain Data Consistency and Recovery
Databases and Tables