[AccessD] Checking for "holes" in a sequence using SQL

Joe Rojas wrote:

>Hi All,
>If I have data similar to:
>JOE001
>JOE002
>JOE003
>JOE005
>JOE006
>
>Is there a way, using just SQL, to return the next available number in the
>sequence, JOE004, and be flexible enough to return JOE007 if JOE004 had
>already existed?
>Or do I have to use code to iterate through the records to check for
>"holes"?
>
>Thanks!
>JR
>
>
>
>
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IMHO something is wrong with this design. You are packing two columns 
into one and expecting the database to act intelligently: unfair. If you 
really need this column, consider adding two more columns, one with each 
fragment and then concatenating the result in the column you have. The 
problem becomes much simpler with this approach.

But back to the start. Why are you concatenating two column values into one?

A.