Abstract: Checking and verifying entries made in tabular form data, such as found in a database or spread sheet, is provided through the specification of two descriptive files: an edit profile and a referential edit profile, which is an edit profile which refers to another field in the tabular data. These files, or their in-memory equivalents, permit an end user to flexibly specify allowable contents for tabular form data in one field based upon the contents of another field (or synonymously, another column). In short, the present invention provides a system and method for what is referred to herein as referential edit checking of tabular form data.