Re: Primary key data type: integer vs identity

[Michel Pelletier <pelletier.michel@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Apr 19, 2019 at 10:55 AM Rich Shepard <rshepard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

When I created the database I set primary key data types as integer; for
example:

Column    |   Type          | Collation | Nullable |  Default
--------------+-----------------------+-----------+----------+-------------
  org_id   | integer         |           | not null |
nextval('organizations_org_id_seq'::regclass)

I probably should have used the serial type, but didn't.

If it would be advisable for me to convert from integer to identity please
point me to the appropriate work flow.

https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/datatype-numeric.html#DATATYPE-SERIAL

 

"The data types smallserial, serial and bigserial are not true types, but merely a notational convenience for creating unique identifier columns"

so really there's no difference, what you have is fine. 

-Michel

Reading the CREATE TABLE pages in the manual did not give me sufficient
insights to appreciate the differences or indicate how to change the
column's data type.

Regards,

Rich