It's unfortunate that even if you provided for a system-generated integer primary key, you'd have the same problem as Oracle presumably would permit both "abc" and "abc " to exist in a column defined as being "unique".
Have you explained to the client the reasons behind wanting to avoid this situation? You could use at least one of these techniques to accomplish that: - use a "char" column (so all values are padded with spaces to the max width) - allow only a stored proc to write to the table; remove the trailing spaces in the SP - write a trigger that removes trailing spaces during Insert or Update - have application code remove trailing spaces before storing data (may require the trigger if you're not in control of all of the code) Most clients aren't interested in causing the database to have data that looks the same but really isn't the same....are they? At 11:23 AM 10/26/2005, Franklin Gray wrote >Because at this company, the client dictates the DB structure. No matter >how absurd, what the client wants, the client gets here. It's very >strange but what I have to deal with. J. Merrill / Analytical Software Corp =================================== This list is hosted by DevelopMentor® http://www.develop.com View archives and manage your subscription(s) at http://discuss.develop.com
