must a table id be numerical?

[dotty]

Hi,

I normally make table ID's int (10) auto increment, but the client wants to be able to enter their own inhouse ID's which are alpha-numberical. Can anybody tell me if this is okay and if not, why?

:bemused: any help is greatly appreciated!

[SamC]

I assume you're using ID as the primary key for the table, if so then it doesn't have to be numerical. It can be pretty much anything you like provided that it's unique to each row of the table.