[AccessD] Access and SQL Server

LOL.  You are allowed to do what you are doing but you are not allowed to *call it* a primary key.

Jim hasn't told us what we are supposed to call it, nor has he informed Microsoft that they are not 
allowed to call it a PK.  Unfortunately (for Jim) Microsoft and pretty much the rest of the world 
*does* call it a PK.  As far as I can tell, Jim is tilting at windmills.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com

On 3/3/2011 2:31 PM, Heenan, Lambert wrote:
> I agree 100%.You are describing the reasons why record attribute should *not* be used as primary keys, IMHO. That is precisely why *my* primary keys have no meaning. They are just autonumbers (like John's) and I never have any need to change them. If I need a "Serial Number" or "Order Number" or any such meaningful value then that will be generated by a function that is "aware" of what's happening in the real world (like what was the last order number issued).
>
> Lambert :-)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Jim Dettman
> Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 1:41 PM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Access and SQL Server
>
> Lambert,
>
> <<No you cannot just go in and change it at will. You also have to go find all the records in all the tables that use that Autonumber value as the foreign key back to the table they are relate to.>>
>
>    Sorry if that wasn't obvious, but yes certainly you would.  However I could do that at any time.
>
>    Once it's turned into an attribute though, it takes on meaning.  You still could at that point change it, but not without changing something else.
> It's no longer a matter of simply updating the data.
>
>    For example, an asset tag number, which has been applied to all assets.
> New admin comes in and now wants all the numbers to be 4 digits instead of the current 8.
>
>    I can't simply go into the data and decrease the digits without going to every asset and re-labeling it.
>
> Jim.
>