Question regarding Parent ID

[Graham1894]

I’m putting together a database for contracts.
The contract number needs to be unique but can just be a consecutive number so I was planning to just use the system generated ID and just change the label on the form to Contract No.
However, there seems to be a consensus that the parent ID should not be visible on a form.
My question is why? Is it just tradition or is there a valid reason.
I don’t see the point of creating a new column to create a unique Contract No when there is one already there but am I heading into a problem I’m unaware off?
Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

 

[Ranman256]

Not so. I often show the parent Id. It give users a reference.

 

[pbaldy]

There are those that would never expose the autonumber field to the user. I'm not one of them either. As long as you understand its limitations (skipped numbers, etc), I don't see a reason not to use it.

 

[plog]

However, there seems to be a consensus that the parent ID should not be visible on a form.

I try not to show autonumber values to users because it causes them to have expectations and they incorrectly build business logic around it. For example:

Users see that the ID is incrementing by 1 and assume that pattern will continue. They then see a weekly production report and it jumps from ID=320 to ID=323. People freak out because 2 projects are missing, people have to dig through paperwork, comb through emails, the whole company starts searching for those 2 missing projects. Turns out, 321 and 322 were never fully created, the table just jumped from 320 to 323 in the ID field.

Then you get numerological feng shui people who want to 'reset' the ID every [time period] or who want to be able to assign their own ID so that they can cluster similar projects together.

People have a very hard time understanding that a number serves no purpose other than a unique identifier.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

maybe have code in your form that hides it, depending on the user. you could display the value with a button click perhaps.

I find it useful to be able to identify the specific record when investigating problems.


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I would DEFINITELY not use an autonumber for a meaningful contractID. you either need a manually entered reference, or a sequential number, I would have thought. I don't think an autonumber is a useful in that respect. I WOULD have an additional column for the Contract Ref.

 

[pbaldy]

If you might be subject to audit where somebody will want to know what happened to contract 123, autonumber is not appropriate. If not, who cares? I use it for a limo reservation number. Nobody cares if a number is missed, they just need a number they can give the customer that uniquely identifies the reservation.

As I said, as long as you understand and accept its limitations, I have no problem with it being visible.

 

[Graham1894]

I would just like to thank everyone for your advice.
Missing contract numbers will not be a problem and now I know it will not cause any major problems I will use the ID.
However, I was going to use the same system for invoice numbers and now know better. I did know the ID could jump numbers but had not really thought of the consequences outside of the system i.e. audits.
Once again thank you for your responses.