>>>I have a system where new records are being added to tables
>>>and receive sequential ID numbers which are the primary
>>>keys. Is there a difference between using numeric and
>>>integer types for these fields?
>>
>>Consider using a character type for your system generated key? I used a system generated key in some tables that is C(4) and stored like (0001, 0002, 0003). I do not have any specific advantages to list in using this format, but I like to use numerics only when necessary. I am also combining the system generated key with a facility ID field and indexing is easier with all character types. Of course, I am assuming that I will never have more than 9999 records for a single facility in this example. Anyway, just some food for thought.
>
>Since you're using characters, you can use also letters so if you use A-Z and 0-9 digits, you'll have 36^4 possible records and that's 1,679,616 records, wich is a bit more than 9,999 records...
>
>Alex.


Correct, and I have done so in the past.