On Fri, 5 Jun 2009 12:58:01 -0700, Trini Gal
wrote:

Thank you for answering. Honestly, I have read so much about why I should
and shouldn't be using the AutoNumber, that I just didn't use it and used the
DMax function instead.

Whether to use AutoNumber keys (aka Identity in SQL Server) is
somewhat of a religious debate. They are "meaningless surrogate
keys", as opposed to "natural keys". There are proponents on both
sides. I am on the AutoNumber side, and like Tony and others I've
been on that side for decades. My shop has built hundreds of
databases using this approach.

I don't know anything about the SQL Server, I only
know a little Access. I don't know what you mean by "natural key".

A natural key is a field (or group of fields) of real world data that
uniquely identify one row in the table. No duplicates allowed. And
the field(s) must always have a value - no nulls allowed. Also, it's
best if the key value never changes.

Proponents of AutoNumber (like me) say that it is difficult to find
truly unique natural keys like that, and that combination keys are
unwieldy to work with when relationships to child tables are involved.
So we stick with a single AutoNumber key in every table - problem
solved.

Armen Stein
Microsoft Access MVP
www.JStreetTech.com