>Jim,
>Surrogate keys remove the necessity of forcing users to enter a unique key. I've yet to find any user-entered primary key that they can't trash. Social Security? Some people don't have one. Phone number? Multiple people in the same household. Etc, etc. Surrogate keys aren't for ORDERING a table, they are meant to provide a consistent and unique entry to every record which can then be used for SQL insert/update commands and to link parent/child tables.
>
>HTH
>Barbara (Not a wunderkind)

Barbara,

What does not apply to you, the wunder or the kind? You seem pretty wunder to me based on your very helpful approach on this forum. As to the kind, well at my age just about everyone falls into that category who is not in a nursing home.

OK, OK I completely surrender!!! (See white flag in e-mail coming soon). I always use surrogate keys -- I just did not know they were called that, and I stopped letting users fool with my keys about 15 years ago. All are program-genrated and never, never exposed to the user at any time for any reason so help me God.

Abject apologies to all, 10,000 salaams and a blessing on all your ancestors unto the 15th generation.

Have a happy NY

regards,