[AccessD] Autonumber Assigned Immediately

So you don't have to go back there and fix things. 

It's called "building it right, the first time" :)


--- Susan Harkins <ssharkins at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> My point would be -- if there are no rules, why
> bother until there are some?
> It might never happen. 
> 
> Susan H. 
> 
> Six months later you are told that all the numbers
> have to be padded to 6
> digits. Ok, either change the field to a text field
> (if it wasn't such
> already), revise the number generator accordingly,
> and run an update query
> on the existing records to include the padding, or
> find all uses of the
> 'number' field everywhere in the database and change
> the formatting of the
> number display. [I know which choice I would make :)
> 
> 
> Then a year down the line the suits say "You have to
> include an alpha prefix
> that shows which office created the record". Fine
> (As long as you can
> identify the office within the rest of the data).
> You change the 'number'
> generating code to tack on the prefix for new
> records and then run an update
> query to add the prefix to all the existing records.
> 
> 
> Sit back and wait for the next bright idea about
> what extra information can
> be stuffed into a 'serial number'. All of this is
> just a minor pain in the
> butt because of course you are not using this field
> as a Primary Key, that's
> handled by an autonumber that no one sees, so all
> your relationships are
> intact.
> 
> 
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