Since they are all numeric, you may be able to create an associated integer field you could use for the sort but I agree, this can be a pain at times with character fields. One of the other downsides is trying to parse a Request ID like from another string (ie; subject line in an Email--which we ran into the first time ours rolled over). If you are searching for a Request ID in a string, it could be varying lengths so you can't simply assume 15 characters or in your case, 6 characters.
If you are confident you are not using the existing request ids to associate with other tables/records, I'd simply increase the field size and then perform a single SQL update to prefix the correct number of zeros to all of the existing ID values. //SIGNED// Craig Carter Software Engineer, RSP -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe DeSouza Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 11:44 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Increasing Entry ID Length ** The only problem with that approach is the sort order gets messed up.. Since the Entry ID is a character field the sort order would be something like 1 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 That sort of sucks sometimes. You can sort of overcome that by changing your sort order of the form to the Create date and have the request id's sorted out on a result sequentially but there is sometimes that odd exception where the create date of two consecutive records are not what should be expected.. Joe D'Souza Remedy Developer / Consultant, Shyle Networks, New Jersey. ----- Original Message ---- From: Craig Carter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 1:24:15 PM Subject: Re: Increasing Entry ID Length You may want to consider setting it to 0. We have one of our forms in our system set to 0 with a prefix. That basically gives you ISS1, ISS2, ect, and it automatically grows one character when it needs to ISS10, ISS100, ISS1000, etc. Since it sounds like your IDs are all numeric and you are approaching 999999, setting it to zero should effectively cause it to roll over to 1000000 without any problem and it may also benefit you since you may have associations to those original IDs depending on how that home-grown app was built. If you arbitrarily go in and convert all of them and add leading zeros, you could break those associations. I'm not sure if converting an existing fixed size to 0 is possible but it could be the magic bullet you are looking for. //SIGNED// Craig Carter Software Engineer, RSP -----Original Message----- From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Carey Matthew Black Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 11:06 AM To: arslist@ARSLIST.ORG Subject: Re: Increasing Entry ID Length Ron, I would think that any DBA should be able to get the job done. (And much faster than going through the ARS server.) However, while you are at it... I would suggest that you change the length back to 15 so that you never have to do this again. -- Carey Matthew Black Remedy Skilled Professional (RSP) ARS = Action Request System(Remedy) Love, then teach Solution = People + Process + Tools Fast, Accurate, Cheap.... Pick two. On Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 10:53 AM, Smith, Ron [TBC] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ** > > Hi all, > Wanted to bounce this off the group to see if there is an easy and safe way > to increase the size of the Entry-ID Field (1). We are currently at a > length of six on the Homegrown helpdesk app, and after 10 + years using it, > we are about to roll over ID# 999999. What I want to do is to increase it > to a length of 8. Problem is that the existing ID's do not pad out to the > full 8 digits. Is there any utilities out there that makes this change easy > and simple to do. I am pretty sure I can do this by exporting the data and > massage it and reimport it, but looking for an easy way to do it. > > Thanks in advance. > > ARS 6.3 P.20 > Win 2K3 > SQL Server 2000 > > Thanks, > > Ron Smith > Remedy/Web Developer > Providence Health & Services OR > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 503-216-7866 > > DISCLAIMER: > This message is intended for the sole use of the addressee, and may contain > information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure > under applicable law. If you are not the addressee you are hereby notified > that you may not use, copy, disclose, or distribute to anyone the message or > any information contained in the message. If you have received this message > in error, please immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete > this message. > > __Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com <http://www.rmsportal.com/> ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" > html___ ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org <http://www.arslist.org/> Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" ________________________________________________________________________ _______ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" __Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are" html___ _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor: www.rmsportal.com ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
