Row IDs

From: Lee <feigenb_at_is02.fas.harvard.edu>
Date: 22 Mar 2000 08:46:42 GMT
Message-ID: <slrn8dh23h.itn.feigenb@is02.fas.harvard.edu>

Hi Everyone,

I'm moving to Oracle from mySql, and I"m wondering what the 'usual' way of doing primary key ID columns is in Oracle. That is, in mySql one can have an auto_increment column for use as an ID column, and it is easy to store that value as a froeign key in other tables.

I know that Oracle provides the pseudo-column rowid in every table - is it common/uncommon/unheard of practice to rely on this rowid to serve the same function as an auto_increment column in mysql (i.e., both a unique identifier for rows in a table and a speedy foreign key for other tables)? Are there other common (`normal') methods for this using Oracle?

I find that reference books tend to be very useful for knowing what's available, but not nearly so useful for knowing what one should actually use or what is normally done in the `real world'.

Thanks in advance for any help,
Lee Received on Wed Mar 22 2000 - 02:46:42 CST