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Auto-enter serial number fields are used all the time for a variety of reasons (invoice numbers, part numbers, check numbers, etc, etc). I used the example of a Primary Key because it is one of the more common uses of an auto-enter serial number, but it is not the only use by any stretch. The Get (UUID) function, and Get (UUIDNumber) functions return a universally unique identifier (UUID) which solves the uniqueness problem. When the data is combined into a single table, records would lose uniqueness presenting a major problem.įileMaker gave developers another way to create a unique identifier which addressed these issues when they introduced the Get (UUID) function in FileMaker Pro 12 and Get (UUIDNumber) in FileMaker Pro 17. In such a case, a serial number is not sufficient as a unique identifier as each team member’s copy of the application would be creating records with an incremented number. For example a sales team working in the field and where each team member collects contact information in a local copy of the application in FileMaker Go. The only exception to this was if data in a particular table would need to be merged or synced with a mirror of that table in another file. This ID would serve as the unique identifier for the record.įileMaker Pro 18 (and FileMaker Pro 17) will auto-create the Primary Key field for you, using the Get (UUID) function, when a new table is created. Auto-enter Serial number versus Get (UUID)Īny time a new table is created in FileMaker, the first attribute I typically created was an ID field with an auto-enter option set to enter a serial number. Read Kevin’s post on this topic here: Live Development + “New Record”. HOW MANY OPEN TABLES FILEMAKER PRO SERVER SERIAL NUMBERSFields set to Auto-enter Serial numbers are used all the time and for many different reasons. As our discussion continued, the recurring theme was “ Is there anything more we can do in these cases”? Danny then shared an idea he had been introduced to by Kevin Frank that I’d not heard before that a contributing factor to FileMaker locking a table had to do with how FileMaker manages fields that auto-enter a serial number. HOW MANY OPEN TABLES FILEMAKER PRO SERVER HOW TOThe big question was how to (or could we) protect data integrity when making schema changes? The more obvious choice is to ensure that your scripts check for and manage any errors they encounter, including errors encountered if a table is locked, but not all developers use such extensive error trapping. In a recent conversation, Danny Mack and I were discussing how to maintain data integrity for a highly complex application in which we knew that database administrators would be in Manage Database often. When making these changes, FileMaker will lock the table and prevent the creation of new records. If, like me, you have been developing and supporting FileMaker solutions for many years, and even if you’re newer to the platform, you have no doubt learned when (and when not) to make changes to schema for apps being used in production. ![]()
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