Auto Increment a Serial Number

[cnc-man]

Have a requirement on a form to provide a unique serial number when a client presses a button but having some troubles making this happen.

I would like the ability to press a button/hot-spot, and have a unique serial number auto-populate a field. The unique serial number will only be a simple 5-digit number, starting at 20000.

So far, I have defined a value in my table and called it �Unique_Id� as a Numeric type with a width of 8 character. My next step was to Edit the Field Rules for the variable, and under Field Type have now defined it as an Auto Increment and in the Data Entry area set the Default Mode as Simple Default Expression and set the default value at 20000


This is as far as I have gotten. Not sure where to turn to next. As I say, I would like to be able to press a button and have the serial number field auto increment upwards by one.

Would appreciate any assistance is moving forward with this request.

Thanks�

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Auto Increment a Serial Number

I would like to be able to press a button and have the serial number field auto increment upwards by one.

The autoincrement field rule fires on the creation of a new record. Your button press needs to create a new record.

[Keith Hubert]

Re: Auto Increment a Serial Number

Hi cnc-man,

Welcome to the forum. Real names are real nice. Better than cnc-man.

So far it seems you have done everything right. "I would like to be able to press a button and have the serial number field auto increment upwards by one." This can be done very easily with a button on the form but I would not advise that because a record could be saved with missing data unless you had it set up very carefully.

Is this a multi user application? If it is I would recommend that you do not use Auto Increment but an external table to hold the last used number. It is a little more involved in setting up but far easier to control. For example, to ask user to confirm they are creating a new record before the number is updated.

Let us know how you have got you system set up. Single or network application.

[MoGrace]

Re: Auto Increment a Serial Number

I use Keith's method of storing the last number in a table which also leaves you the option to change your series in the future without having to edit the field rules.