Re: identity columns

Russ News wrote:

> They use first initial + middle initial + last initial +
> the last four digits of SSN to uniquely identify it's employees. Once its
> assigned, it doesn't change even with a name change.

There are user-interface problems with:

> Once its assigned, it doesn't change even with a name change.

People get upset that their unique ID still has their old name in it, especially non-technical folk.

Although, I have seen systems (a US gov't system) where the unique ID appeared to be a combination of SSN and name - and *changed* when the students name was changed. This is even worse!

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Ben Clifford     benc_at_hawaga.org.uk
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