Re: Unique identifiers

In reply to Christian Hoj's email about Unique identifiers, on 5 Oct 96 Hi Christian, > Hi there! > > Does Informix have a built-in function to generate unique ID-numbers? I > need to be sure that I get a different number each time I call the > function, because the values are to be entered into a column with an > unique index. > > Christian Hoj > SAXoTECH > Denmark If your table schema is not yet created , then you can create one where ID number is serial datatype. This would ensure that a unique ID number is created everytime that you insert. You might also create unique index on this field. e.g. Create table test_tab ( ID_number serial, Name char (30) ) and to insert : Insert into test_tab values ( 0, "John Doe" ) This will assign the next highest number to ID_Number automatically. However, if you have already decided upon using integer for ID, then I think you will have to write a stored procedure which picks up generates a serial in another table and returns it to calling program etc. HTH, Ravi.... -- Ravi Joseph Pinto, mailto:ravi@in.dhl.com Consultant, Astra Infotech, voice :91-22-8503000 Mumbai, India extn. 1531 Standard disclaimers apply.