creating a unique field to help trace a file

[Chemadian]

Hey Everyone, i need to define a field that is unique to each new record that is created. Ideally i would like to incorporate the first three letters of record title along along with the date the record was created. This field is meant to act as a "lot number" which allows each record to be unique and traceable. Does anyone know how i can do this?

[VincentO'B]

Make a calculation field that = (Letter1 + Letter2 + Letter3 + RecordCreationDate.)

You need to be 100% certain that you then have a unique ID, if not you could include another field ie PostCode/Zip.

There are many references in this forum to creating unique identifiers, some of them I would consider to be required reading.

Hope this helps

Vincent

[comment]

Ideally i would like to incorporate the first three letters of record title along along with the date the record was created.

This is far from being ideal: it assumes no two titles created on the same day will ever start with the same three characters. Moreover, if you ever change a record's title, the "lot number" will either change or no longer match the title.

I suggest you use a meaningless auto-entered serial number to uniquely identify your records.

[Chemadian]

This is far from being ideal: it assumes no two titles created on the same day will ever start with the same three characters. Moreover, if you ever change a record's title, the "lot number" will either change or no longer match the title.

I suggest you use a meaningless auto-entered serial number to uniquely identify your records.

I have to agree, an auto-entered serial number would be much more ideal than my original idea! How would i go about generating an auto-entered serial number?

[comment]

Define a new field of type Number. Click Options… and you'll see it under the Auto-Enter tab.

[Chemadian]

Thanks so much for your help!

Cheers