You are doing the job of the DB Engine in the worst possible way (using fake pointers identifiers). Why stop there? Why not use text files for storage and write...

I have clarified what I mean by pointer-based foreign keys on the SQL feedback page

https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=472957

It is not the network model and it completely eliminates the use of a...

It was an example.

Also, primary key values should be non-volatile. Actually, they shouldn't change at all once assigned....

To demonstrate how stupid a surrogate key is:

CREATE TABLE members

(

mem_id INT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,

mem_username VARCHAR(25)

mem_firstname VARCHAR(25),

...

Carl Federl (7/8/2009)

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Regarding the natural key versus surrogate key argument, take a closer look at the "natural" keys and they all have something in common - they are actually surrogate...

Matt Miller (7/8/2009)

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I will slither out from under my rock for a sec. If you use pointers instead of actual keys - how do you ever CHANGE a foreign...

Here is what Celko has to say about using surrogates:

There is no such magical, universal. Elixir of Life "id"; this

Kabbalah magic where all of God's creations have a number and...

The fact is that because of a poor implementation, we resort to using "hacks". Surrogates instead of natural keys. There is too much maintenance work involved in having 3-4 candidate...

GSquared (7/8/2009)

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No matter how you implement the pointers, there's going to be a need for some sort of physical storage. Most likely, the physical implementation will involve either a...

The benefits of a natural key is that it can be validated externally, debugged easily, doesn't require extra joins in some cases, free index etc. Surrogates do not belong in...

Lynn Pettis (7/7/2009)

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sqlguru (7/7/2009)

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Actually, it's not.

The DB automatically creates the foreign keys between the two tables BUT it is not seen...

GSquared (7/7/2009)

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I voted for both.

Have to say that they strike me as "nice to have", not as crucial. I'd rate the first one as "nicer to have" than the...

Actually, it's not.

The DB automatically creates the foreign keys between the two tables BUT it is not seen by the DBA,...

The sad thing is that this feature (one of the most crucial features regarding referential integrity) has been requested way back in sql 2000. SQL Server is also missing subqueries...

Well, in a "true" relational model, there is no need to do a @@IDENTITY or SCOPE_IDENTITY(), therefore it is not reliable at all. Surrogate identifiers are not valid keys, it...