strict hierarchy

A hierarchy of tables in which owner tables contribute to the primary keys of records in assigned tables. The Divisions and Departments tables of the organizational hierarchy form a strict hierarchy; the Division Code field from the Divisions table contributes to the primary key of records in the Departments table. A view in which the Departments table owns the Rooms table and the Rooms table owns the Equipment table does not constitute a strict hierarchy; the key value for records in the Equipment table are not composed of values from the owning Rooms and Departments tables.