An autonumber column is designed only to guarantee unique values, not
necessarily sequential ones. Moreover, if a user abandons adding a new
record then the autonumber value will not be reused unless the database is
compacted before adding the next record.
In a single user environment you can easily generate the next number in
sequence, but this must be done in a form not in raw datasheet view of the
table. This is no disadvantage as in any application worth the name data
should never be inserted into a table in raw datasheet view, but always via
forms.
In the form's BeforeInsert event procedure look up the last number and add
1, e.g.
[MyNumber]=Dmax("[MyNumber]","[MyTable]")+1
In a multi-user environment on a network its more complex as two users
adding records simultaneously could give rise to a conflict as both would get
the same number. There are various ways around this. One can be found at
the following link, which also allows the number from which the sequence will
start when the next record is added can be reset:
http://community.netscape.com/n/pfx...yMessages&tsn=1&tid=23839&webtag=ws-msdevapps
Ken Sheridan
Stafford, England
