Re: Fixing up structure with primary, natural, surrogate, etc.

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From: Fred Boer (fredboer1_at_NOyahooSPAM.com)
Date: 09/16/04 

Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 22:26:57 -0400

Dear Tim:

So, I re-did most of my tables, creating natural keys, setting unique
indexes, and making the back end MDB look all nice. Then I ran the front end
application to see how it would go. Oh, MAN, is it going to be a lot of work
to fix everying! What a mess! <g> Boy, when they say that you should get the
structure down correctly from the beginning, they aren't just whistling
Dixie!!

That aside, it's been interesting and fun to learn about how to use natural
primary keys! Thanks again for helping me along!

Cheers!
Fred

"Tim Ferguson" <FergusonTG@softhome.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9565B61E81D57garbleme4455656@207.46.248.16...
> "Fred Boer" <Fredboer1@NOyahooSPAM.com> wrote in
> news:eZO4sHomEHA.3060@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl:
>
> >> Two choices (asterisk = PK)
> > Yes... the first example is how I currently have things set up. The
> > second is what I am attempting to create. To this point, my attempts
> > are fruitless. Access can't set up relational integrity for some
> > reason...
>
> First thing to check is that the field types match exactly: if one is a
> Text(length=12) then the other one must be a Text(12) too. Same applies
> to Single-Single, LongInt-LongInt etc. Remember that Autonumber is a
> special kind of LongInt (and therefore matches a LongInt). Memo fields
> can never be used.
>
> Second thing to check if there are data in the tables already, is that
> the existing records satisfy the rules. Empty values in the FK field are
> okay (nulls, not zero-length strings), but any values that are there must
> exist in the related table IYSWIM.
>
> >
> > Ok, just to be sure I'm not screwing it up: for my junction tables, I
> > don't need a primary key, just a unique index based on the two fields,
> > with no nulls or zero length strings allowed, right?
>
> John V has answered this. If you already have the unique index, you just
> have to mark in Primary and you are done.
>
> Hope that helps -- yes, do post back if you have any further questions.
> All the best
>
>
> Tim F
>

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