Abstract
Abstract: Metrics are useful mechanisms for assuring database quality. However, it is necessary to prove the practical utility of the metrics because they must be used in real life. Consequently if the metrics are not useful from a practical point of view, they must be rejected. In this paper we present the metrics we have proposed for controlling the quality of relational databases and we present the case study developed in a Spanish enterprise aimed at discovering if the metrics are really useful in relation to the purpose for which they were designed, that is to say the control of quality.