AutoNumber

[Alex Gigante]

In a large database in which we are using AutoNumber to
automatically set the ID for each entry, we have
discovered that it skipped a number about midway through.
As a consequence, the form that we are using to input the
data no longer corresponds with the table, i.e., the form
entry no. is always one behind the no. automatically
assigned to the entry in the table. Because these nos.
are keyed to the documents that we are identifying in the
entries, we now have serious confusion.

Has anyone experienced this glitch before? If so, is
there a fix?

 

[Douglas J. Steele]

No, it's not a bug: it's how Autonumbers work. If you start to create a
record, and then decide not to save it, you lose the number that would have
used for that record.

Autonumbers exist for one purpose: to provide an (almost guaranteed) unique
value that can be used as a primary key. No meaning should be assigned to
the number itself: in fact, usually the number isn't even displayed to the
user.

If the value of the ID is important to you, you'll need to write your own
code to automatically generate the ID.