SYMPTOMS
When merge replication is established on tables that have constraints,
namely, foreign key constraints or user triggers and these triggers/
constraints are not created with "NOT FOR REPLICATION" option, merge agent will log a conflict. For example, if the conflict is on a delete statement, the message may look like:
'DELETE' statement conflicted with column reference constraint 'constraintname'.
The conflict occurred in database 'databasename', table 'tablename',column 'columnname'
The error described above occurred when trying to delete this data at this
location, possibly because the deletion violated one or more constraints.
If you choose to ignore this conflict, you should resolve it through other
means. Consider logging the details of this conflict, then sending the log
entry to your system administrator. The value of the unique ID in column
'rowguid10' is '{31D07D7A-50EA-11D3-AD71-0050041B87D2}'.
The conflict viewer gives you an option to "ignore the conflict". Even if you try to choose "ignore conflict" and resolve the conflict, the conflict is not resolved. In other words, the conflict entry is not removed from MSmerge_delete_conflict (in case of delete conflict) or conflict_tablename (in case of insert or update conflicts) on the publisher.
When constraints or user triggers need to be enforced on tables involved in merge replication for business reasons, it is recommended that constraints/user triggers be marked as "NOT FOR REPLICATION" to avoid the above problem. If these constraints/triggers are not marked as "NOT FOR REPLICATION", the conflicts like the ones described above have to be resolved manually by removing the entry from the conflict tables
MSmerge_delete_conflict (in case of delete conflict) or conflict_tablename
(in case of insert or update conflicts) on the publisher database for the
given rowguid.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 7.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
254561 INF: How to Obtain Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) 1.0
For more information, contact your primary support provider.