[AccessD] Primary Key Best Practices

Blush!  "your logic is flawless." From you, that's truly awesome praise.

On 7/25/07, jwcolby <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com> wrote:
>
> And you know what Arthur, your logic is flawless.  There are a number of
> cases where there is only a single field in the table and only ever going
> to
> be a single field.  In those cases I would reluctantly put down my
> ANPK.  IN
> THOSE cases, the table is really being used as a simple data integrity
> monitor to force the user to select a valid choice.  The two column "with
> a
> code" I would not so quickly put down my ANPK.  In the case of a product
> with a 3 char code and a ton of other useful info I absolutely would
> continue to use an ANPK.  The reason is simple, and comes back to join
> speed.  Yea, people MAY memorize all the 3 character codes but just as
> likely you would be joining your 3 char field to pull more data where I
> would be joining an integer.
>
> But congrats anyway, you have pointed out the (so far) single case where a
> natural key is as good as an ANPK and causes no further problems.
>
> And BTW, disk space is not my primary objection, but rather join
> speed.  No
> matter whether a lowly PC desktop or a supercomputer, speed is always an
> issue.
>
> John W. Colby
> Colby Consulting
> www.ColbyConsulting.com
>