SQL Is Giving Different Row Counts

Hi,

...giving a very 'summarized' scenario of the problem I have trying to
solve all day (make it 2 days now).

Below are the relevant DDLs... I am not listing the DDLs of my other tables:

CREATE TABLE [SalesFACT] (
[varchar] (10),
[TransDate] [varchar] (10),
[SaleAmt] [float],
[CustCode] [varchar] (10)
. . .
)

I populate the above table via a DTS and have checked and have verified that correct data is coming in... I also have a product master table; for business reasons we can have the same product created with different ProductCodes though the rest of the Product details are EXACTLY the same. We have covered this using a field named 'UniqueProdCode'.

CREATE TABLE ProdMaster(
[ProdCode] [varchar] (10),
[ProdName] [varchar] (35),

[UniqueProdCode] [varchar] (10),

... many other product fields e.g. unit price, category etc...
...
)

First a small Request:
Please note that I have NOT defined links between my tables (in the diagram editor) nor have I defined Primary keys (or any constraint) for any of the tables. When you kindly reply, please suggest I should define primary keys for the tables and also link them in the diagram editor.


[u]THE PROBLEM:
When I do a count(*) query on the table 'SalesFACT', I get the correct number of records.

If I create a view, add table 'SalesFACT' and table ProdMaster, link the
UniqueProdCode field of table 'SalesFACT' with the UniqueProdCode field of ProdMaster (so that I can also get the name, category, etc. for the products in the SalesFACT), and run a count(*) query I get a much higher and incorrect number of rows. The SQL for the view is:


SELECT dbo.SalesFACT.TransDate, dbo.SalesFACT.UniqueProdCode,
dbo.SalesFACT.SaleAmt
FROM dbo.SalesFACT INNER JOIN dbo.ProdMaster ON dbo.SalesFACT.UniqueProdCode = dbo.ProdMaster.UniqueProdCode


Kindly note that I have checked and the contents of the table SalesFACT' UniqueProdCode field DOES contain the correct data i.e. it contains the UniqueProdCode and NOT the ProdCode.

But if i link the "wrong fields", I get the correct count count :confused: i.e. I create a very similar view (as mentioned above) but instead link the UniqueProdCode of table SalesFACT with the ProdCode field (not the UniqueProdCode field) of ProdMaster
table I get the correct count. This is really driving me nuts and I just can't understand what's going on and why the "REVERSE" logic. For your convenience here is the SQL for the 2nd view:


SELECTdbo.SalesFACT.TransDate, dbo.SalesFACT.UniqueProdCode,
dbo.SalesFACT.SaleAmt
FROM dbo.SalesFACT INNER JOIN dbo.ProdMaster ON dbo.SalesFACT.UniqueProdCode = dbo.ProdMaster.ProdCode


Please guide... I have run out of all the things that I could check and thus this SOS and F1

Billions of thansk in advance.