From: | "Brett W(dot) McCoy" <bmccoy(at)lan2wan(dot)com> |
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To: | Stuart Rison <stuart(at)ludwig(dot)ucl(dot)ac(dot)uk> |
Cc: | pgsql-sql(at)postgreSQL(dot)org |
Subject: | Re: [SQL] Primary keys: can they be alphanumerical? |
Date: | 1998-07-06 13:25:33 |
Message-ID: | Pine.BSI.3.91.980706092124.19636B-100000@access1.lan2wan.com |
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Lists: | pgsql-sql |
On Mon, 6 Jul 1998, Stuart Rison wrote:
> I would like to know what is the general concensus on having alphanumerical
> primary keys.
I use alphanumeric primary keys all the time. I keep large databases
with FDA regulatory information in them, and the FDA assigned approval
number, usually a letter, followed by two digits indicating the year of
approval or the type of approval (like for a generic drug), followed by four
digits indicating the sequence of apporval for that year. I use this
same key as a a foreign key for, say, patent records, which is usuallu a
one-to-many join.
Brett W. McCoy
http://www.lan2wan.com/~bmccoy
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