I have been working on an e-business project and have a product table and manufacturer table that are linked via barcode and a manufacturer ID (both primary keys in the tables mentioned). For now, I have been setting the manufacturer's ID manually, primarily for that rare instance where a manufacturer and its products are dropped from the database, but the number should be reused. Is it better or possible (without complications) to use autoincrement and simply delete the product information and manufacturer information while leaving the ID column intact for a later update operation with a new manufacturer and its products? I suppose only one table (the linking table?) should be set to autoincrement and that ID number used to populate the remaining tables depending upon that number for insert operations. The code is probably simple, but my head is already swimming. I suppose what I am looking for is "best practice" advice from seasoned db administrators. A second question, which may be moot if autoincrement is the best way to go, is why I keep getting an duplicate key error despite using IGNORE in my mysql update scripts. Keep in mind that the update is completed anyway (even without using IGNORE) but the abort prevents an acknowledgement script which is essential in unregistering sessions crucial in future update operations. Thanks. Michael Conway mconway3@cox.net (703) 968-8875
