Re: Primary Key

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On 11/16/07 20:50, Greg Smith wrote:
[snip]
>
> He doesn't use that example anymore but still misses the point I tried
> to make. The ability of the world to invalidate the assumptions that go
> into natural key assignment are really impressive. I particularly enjoy
> that so many systems are built presuming that the Social Security number
> for a person is involatile that this topic comes up in their FAQ about
> identify theft: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10064.html

Natural PKs are *not* set in stone, and only stubborn fools won't
admit that they can't divine all situations. So, you add a new
column to the PK and keep on going.

But still, there *are* some circumstances where natural PKs just
don't work. After all, SSNs and credit card numbers are synthetic
(just not generated sequential by the RDBMS).

- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA USA

%SYSTEM-F-FISH, my hovercraft is full of eels
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