The current structure is as follows:

Table RowType: RowTypeID Table RowSubType: RowSubTypeID FK_RowTypeID

Table ColumnDef: FK_RowTypeID FK_RowSubTypeID (nullable)

In short, I'm mapping column definitions to rows. In some cases, those rows have subtype(s), which will have column definitions specific to them. Alternatively, I could hang those column definitions that are specific to subtypes off their own table, or I could combine the data in RowType and RowSubType into one table and work with a single ID, but I'm not sure either is a better solution (if anything, I'd lean towards the latter, as we mostly end up pulling ColumnDefs for a given RowType/RowSubType).

Is the current design SQL Blasphemy?

If I keep the current structuree, how do I maintain that if RowSubTypeID is specified in ColumnDef, that it must correspond to the RowType specified by RowTypeID? Should I try to enforce this with a trigger or am I missing a simple redesign that would solve the problem?