Changing Primary Key To AUTONUMBER On Existing Database ?
Mar 30, 2007
I have an existing contact information database which consists of a number of tables, the main table has a primary key which is currently set to NUMBER.
There is a relationship between it and 2 other tables via that key (ContactID).
I would now like to change the primary key (ContactID) to AUTONUMBER, so that any new records added, have a number assigned automatically. I also need any newly created primary key number to be used in the child tables created as a result.
Is this possible ? (without renumbering my existing tables/records)
I have a simple database that I inherited, that contains basic customer contact info. We want to start adding more functionality to the database, so I've done alot of research to learn about how to begin normalizing my data.The existing table does not contain a useful primary key, since we may have multiple individuals from the same company, companies with very similar names, etc.
I would like to add an AutoNumbered field to use as a CustomerID/primary key, but I can't seem to find a way to do so. Here is what I've tried so far:
I have tried to add a field to the table, and make it an AutoNumber data type. When I do so, I can error message saying that I cannot make a field AutoNumber if any other field in the table already has data entered in it.I have tried to create a new table containing only an AutoNumber PrimaryID field, and then import data from the existing table, but that just creates a 3rd table.
I'm altering a database to have certain fields be recorded monthly.For example: instead of a client's file having "Total X Purchased" it would now be "Total X Purchased - Jan", "Total X Purchaed - Feb".
I want to spin the monthlies out of the master clients table & in to ex. tbl_clientsJan, tbl_clientsFeb, etc. but still have them linked; & have a "Totals" table that aggregates data from all of the tables (adds them up).
I have an existing form, & I was thinking of just creating tabs for the months & subforms in each with their sources as the month tables, & removing the fields that don't change month-to-month (e.g. client name), with relationships between them. I would start by copying all of the master table data in to the month tables & allowing edits from there.
the company doesn't track when the transactions occurred; I'm unable to group them along those lines.I'm new to Access & don't want to make a mistake.
The above image is of a table which I need to update according to a new data on daily basis. As you can see when I added two records at the last , the AutoNumber primary key of the table jumped by thousands . I have used the following query to update the table
Code: db.Execute "INSERT INTO D_Counterparty (CPTY_ENTITY_ID,CPTY_DESC)"_ & "SELECT Ctpy_Entity_Id,Ctpy_Entity_Legal_Nm"_ & "FROM NewCU LEFT JOIN D_Counterparty ON D_Counterparty.CPTY_ENTITY_ID=NewCU.Ctpy_Entity_Id"
I never changed the AutoNumber from incremental to random and I have also tried re-seeding it but had no success. Also when I inserted the sample values using a sample table ,the AutoNumber was working fine . Here's that query
Code: db.Execute "INSERT INTO D_Counterparty (CPTY_ENTITY_ID,CPTY_DESC,) SELECT a,b, FROM sample"
I have a table with more than 700,000 records. There are no unique fields or unique combination of fields. I would like to add an AutoNumber field but when I try I get the message:
My shiny new database is ready to go - now I have deleted all my trial data and want to re-set the autonumber primary key of my main table to start at "1" (I thought I could delete it and re-insert it but it won't let me). Suggestions?
I was adding an autonumber field to an existing table and I assumed the numbering would follow the order of the primary key but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Just a general question... When you make a primary key is it better to use and Autonumber or a Custom one? I have for the most part used auto...easy, convienient and well I have never had a problem yet (been pretty serious on Access for about 1 year). But I just read that ref integ doesn't work on Autonumbers? which would also mean cascading update & deleting correct? I have looked at Northwind Access sample and all except "Customer" they use Auto. Well then to make a custom Primary field wouldn't I have to do that at the form level? like "CustomPrimKey = Left([CustFirstName],2 & Left([CustLastName],2) & [PriKeySetAtAutoNum]" or something like that to get what I want. I imagine you would automate this as opposed to letting the operator manually enter them. And then as in the Northwind sample how do you know which tables need the custom numbering and which ones don't. As I have learned on my own some of the "basics" elude me until they come back to bite me.
Any ideas on tagging my primary key (currently autonum as a data type) with an "M" on the front of it. I guess i wanted to keep it as autonumber so i wouldn't have to key in a value
Thought maybe i could create a new field and do an "M" & [ID] in the default value where [ID] is the autonum primary key field but I guess I'm not doing it right - get an error trying to save saying it can't find the field [ID]
Hi! I am a new member of this forum and new to access. I need to make a data base and I would to have my primary Key as an autonumber. I would like to use ID numbers that have already been assigned but they have letters in the beginning, they are GKAD0001 etc. so at the moment I just have them as text that wont allow duplicates, but really I would like them as and autonumber so when new data is added it automatically assigns the next number. Is this possible?
I need to create a table with 2 sets of different information both referring to job types. the problem is that i need the autonumber which created the job number to scale together. so both tables have a primary key of "job number" and i want the autonumber to only ever use 1 number in both tables.
e.g.
job type 1 - autonumbers - 1,2,3,4,6,7,9,10 job type 2 - autonumbers - 5,8,11,12
I am new to Access, and have spent the last few weeks reading everything I could get my hands on about creating databases. I am working on a new database for my office and I need some help please.
I am trying to create normalized tables, so I have broken down my tables into the smallest possible field groups and linked the tables via primary and foreign keys using autonumbers and the primary key in parent tables. My question is how do I have my users interface in forms with actual data instead of the ID numbers but have the ID numbers inserted in the field. Here is a sample of my address table to demonstrate my question:
tblAddresses AddressID Autonumber PK StaffID Number (FK to tblStaff) AddressTypeID Number (FK to tblAddressType) Address1 Address2 CityID Number (FK to tblCities) StateID Number (FK to tblStates) ZipID Number (FK to tblZips)
Obviously all of my tables are not shown here but this should show what I am looking for.
So, how can I let the user input/select the actual data from the forms in combo and text boxes but actually input the ID numbers into the underlying tables. If a user is inserting a new record and selects state I want them to be able to input/select CA not the StateID 1.
I don't know why I am having such a hard time with this, I seem to understand the other concepts but this one has me stumped. I found a few ways to do it, but I don't think they are right and I want to learn this the correct way. Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!
The database I've inherited has a primary key autonumber set up which is randomly generating numbers. It also has another field which has yet to be used, of a clients reference number.
I thought it would make sense to use the reference number field as the primary key, as it seems redundant otherwise and it would give us another field to perform searches on (if we record a clients reference number on their paper file, then finding them on the database would be much quicker).
Because of the relationships in the database, I didn't want to remove the existing primary key as I'm afraid it would mess up the whole thing. I was wondering if there is a way of having the autonumber which is generated in the primary key to be automatically copied to the clients reference number field? This would leave the primary key intact but give us this extra level of information to search on.
strange query... I have a testing database which I have filled full of test data. I now want to create an empty copy of this database, so I copied this, removed all records, however the tables where I have a field named ID, which is the Primary Key field and is Autonumber set to increment, I cant seem to get this to set back to 1. I tried deleting the ID field completely, closing DB, and adding it again, yet it STILL remembers the next number up from the last record I had created previously??
Can anyone offer any help as to how I can get this set back to 1, as now I am finished testing I want to essentially start all table records fresh.
I have a table that has a primary key that does an autonumber in increments. Then I made some queries that will append records by date and then also another query that will delete what was appended. Then I created a reverse sequence of this process in case I change my mind and would like to put back the records I archived, however, when I do this, the primary key is now thrown off and will still revert to the last primary key that was appended before the archive ever took place. In other words it still thinks that the records I appended before I did the reverse, are still there. So now it will not let me save the record because it is a duplicate.
Is there a way to set the autonumber for the primary key to where I want it to begin?
I've just begun using microsoft access and would like to create a primary key on a table of data that has been sorted alphabetically. However, when I try to create this key (designview -> auto number-> increment) it autonumbers for the column the way it was before i sorted it. Is there a known way of doing this?
I am re-working an old database that 'grew up' the wrong way. It is a medical patient database and has 4 main tables. Primary key of main data table is Medical Record number (MR#), a user entered field (I know...). This links to 3 other tables: Diagnoses (indexed by MR# as well, 1-to-1 relationship with main table), Consults (indexed by a compound key of MR# and date, 1 to many relationship), and Procedures (indexed as well by MR# and date; 1 to many as well).
Here is my plan, and I want to know if I'm going to go about it the right way:
I will first delete the relationships between these tables. I will then give the main table an autonumber field called PatientIndex, and each other table their own autonumber (DiagnosisIndex, ConsultIndex, ProcedureIndex). I will also give each of the other 'daughter' tables a PatientIndex field as well. I will populate the PatientIndex fields of the daughter records with a VBA routine that matches their MR# with the MR# in the main table, and then inserts the corresponding PatientIndex.
Now that each table has no relationships, and has all the right fields, I suspect Access will allow me to change the Keys for each table, and create new relationships, and it should all work cleanly. The goal is to have each table indexed by an autonumber field that is unrelated to user entry, and to link them by the Primary key.
Does this sound like the right approach? As to why do this if it works OK, it's a matter of maintenance. It's simply too buggy as it stands, and it's torturing me. Will my plan work without crashing the db?
I did some BAD planning before I started creating my database and I set a text field ("field1") of a table ("table1") as primary key, then I linked this field to a field in another table ("table2", one-to-many relationship). Now I wan't to change some values in table1 in "field1" defined as primary, but I can't (Access refuses to do so...).
Because I have a lot of data entered allready I would like to know if there is any way for me to change values in "table1"/"field1" and that all the linked fields in other tables ("table2") would change correspondingly??????
is it possible to change the default primary key error message that appears when a duplication of the primary key is made in a form?? in other words how can i make those error messages more user friendly??
I have a table with a compound key, and one of the two fields in the compound key has to start at 100 and finish at 999 and I'd like it so that each number didn't have to be typed in individually.
So I thought about using an autonumber that somehow starts at 100 but doesn't go over 999 if thats possible? Or if you have any other ideas on how I could achieve this? Thanks
I have a table with a compound key, and one of the two fields in the compound key has to start at 100 and finish at 999 and I'd like it so that each number didn't have to be typed in individually.
So I thought about using an autonumber that somehow starts at 100 but doesn't go over 999 if thats possible? Or if you have any other ideas on how I could achieve this? Thanks
I want to change misspelled records, but the misspells are in the primary key of my table. By changing the values of primary key fields, can I break table relationships? I'm not changing field names, just field values of a primary key field.
I have a database which i am constantly updating and improving. I have a few friends who use the database in a current form. If i made an update say to a form or to some of the coding to make the DB more efficent, how can i update the dBs my friends are using without damaging or changing the existing data, or migrating it to the new design.
