Script to auto generate Invoice ID?

[skearton]

This one has me stumped. We use a particular numbering system for our invoices (different from our Order ID). Just wondering how to make this an auto generated thing.

So, if I was to do some invoices for today, it would look like this: 02-1001-10, 02-1002-10, etc.

Now let me explain the numbering code: the first 2 digits are the current month followed by a dash. The first number after the dash is the office ID (with our office being 1, and the others being 2, 3, 4, etc. no more than a single digit. The next three numbers are the serial number for that invoice, increasing by 1. There is the dash and then the last 2 digits are the current year.

The gotcha, is that sometimes we have to roll back an invoice to the previous month, so I could see there may be a chance of duplication of a Invoice number, so somehow there has to be a check when that is done, in which case, the last serial number that was used is increased by one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, since we have been doing this by hand for years.

[bruceR]

Though you may eventually solve this problem, just make sure that you never ever use it as a real record ID or invoice ID in data relationships. A cardinal rule about IDs is that should have no meaning. Thus you never have any reason to change them.

[skearton]

How right you are! I have learned that one the hard way.

I would like to change my profile from intermediate to beginner, but I can't see where to do it. I'm one of those many souls out there who fell into having to maintain a database someone else created without any formal training. I finally got the filemaker training series book and cd before Christmas, so my knowledge is gaining. After 5 years struggling with the current database (done by another) which was built with no anchor - bouy system I have decided create my own. So thanks to all of you for your help!