"Pablo Sanchez" <pablo_at_dev.null> wrote in message
news:Xns92C9EFAF939C3pingottpingottbah_at_209.242.64.107...
> "Jim Kennedy" <kennedy-family_at_attbi.com> wrote in
news:8o%B9.73293$1O2.5806
> @sccrnsc04:
>
> > a surrogate key is an arbitrary key (eg a sequence). A natural key is
one
> > that is naturally part of the data (eg in the US the social security
number
> > for people)
>
> As a side note, SSN's are intended to be unique but are not for a
> variety of reasons.
> --
> Pablo Sanchez, High-Performance Database Engineering
> http://www.hpdbe.com
A marvellous example of the problems of 'natural keys'.
--
Niall Litchfield
Oracle DBA
Audit Commission UK
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Received on Mon Nov 18 2002 - 10:52:14 CST
