Re: How to increased by exactly 1 ?

rogergorden_at_gmail.com (rogergorden_at_gmail.com) wrote:
: I agree, there isn't any business purpose to do this.
: The requirement; as stated; says, "The
: business rule is that the system should have an option to assign the
: lowest
: next available Control Code for the new item created."
: Lowest, next available, is sequence folks. If you're multiuser, it's
: the way to go.
: If you really try hard to have 1,2,3,4 etc, and someone deletes a row,
: what will happen
: if you then have 1,2,4,5 etc?

In that case you would need to clarify the requirements. E.g. If you're allocating mail boxes to customers but will buy more if they are all in use. Potentially the number increases forever, exactly one by one, but "deleting" a box means it is now the next available that is lowest for the next customer to re-use.

As for why someone would want to allocate guaranteed sequential numbers, I think anytime you interact with people then it is a wise idea to do so. Imagine how an accountant explains why invoice 4002 is missing? Do you think the jury is going to beleive that the computer simply missed that number? You can't prove it did unless the computer tracks the fact it missed the number (which means it had no reason to miss it anyways). Consider part numbers, which order will have fewer errors...

        please ship parts 1001,1002,1003,1004,1005,1006,1007,1008

        please ship parts 1001,1002,1003,1004,1006,1007,1008,1009

$0.02

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