the invention disclosed is a method and apparatus for propagating database tables while preserving foreign key integrity . the invention comprises an improved method of storing subscription sets that enables a user to assign a rank to a subscription set and to each member of the set , and an improved database propagation program that uses the ranks to determine the order in which to propagate database tables . in the preferred embodiment , subscription sets are stored in a subscription table and subscription members are stored in a member table . the preferred embodiment database propagation program further comprises a capture program and an apply program , wherein capture monitors a database for changes and apply propagates data from member tables in the subscription sets .