The present invention comprises a process for managing entity-relationship data for data objects persisted in a relational database. In particular, the process minimizes the number of database operations needed to maintain persistent referential integrity between data objects, thereby minimizing the number of times that a program accesses the database. In the preferred embodiment, the inventive process is implemented as an improved container program having a CMR engine that controls the persistence of data object relationships in a relational database. The improved container program comprises one or more referential integrity rules, which control the container program's response to a client object program's instructions that affect entity-relationship data.