>>>> hi
>>>> I have one of those master-detail relationships here and I need to be able
>>>> to delete the master but leave the details untouched
when you create the table with an FK constraint, use the ON DELETE SET
NULL option, or SET DEFAULT. And read the docs on "CREATE TABLE":
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/8.3/static/sql-createtable.html
>>>
>>> Then remove the referential integrity constraint, since it's obviously
>>> incompatible with your business requirements.
Wrong. See above. Unless I misunderstand, then I apologize for the noise....