abhijit - No... not really.. there isn't a "it depends" in this case. When importing the data, either you validate it, or you don't. And I guess I should clarify my statement with - by "importing into the the database" I mean putting it it in the final tables where the data resides.

Ideally this is how I like to mass imports:
1) Read the file/records
2) dump every thing into a staging table
3) validate everything. check for out of bounds data, know bad values, etc
4) Only when the data has been cleaned.... move the CLEANED data to the final production tables
5) Allow the user or someone to manually scrub the data that's left
6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 as often as needed

There really shouldn't be a "it depends" ... you should always validate your data before it gets into its final resting place. It sounds like from MMock's response though that this is a 90% solution, and they don't mind the work on the other 10%. It makes me nervous, but then I don't have to deal with it.

-tg