Re: Oracle Sequences

From: Ed prochak <ed.prochak_at_magicinterface.com>
Date: 16 Jan 2004 11:45:59 -0800
Message-ID: <4b5394b2.0401161145.45c5b364@posting.google.com>

Galen Boyer <galenboyer_at_hotpop.com> wrote in message news:<u8yk8t0mk.fsf_at_standardandpoors.com>...
> On Fri, 16 Jan 2004, jrajan_at_nc.rr.com wrote:
>
> > Due to the nature of our work skipping sequences is not a good
> > practice.
>
> There has never been a sound argument yet for this. If you
> actually understand some trait of your ids and use it in your
> efforts you have intelligence in your keys. That is a big
> no-no.

Well, never say "never".

Some financial applications require no numeric gaps, for example invoice numbering. Auditors hate gaps.

The downside is loss of scalability since you are essentially forced to have a gating process to "single source" the numbers, whether they are generated from a SEQUENCE or by SELECT MAX(thenumberkey). It's a pain but sometimes has to be done. Received on Fri Jan 16 2004 - 13:45:59 CST