Re: A couple of newbie questions ...

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 07:18:15PM +0930, admin wrote:

> 1. Is a SEQUENCE what I use instead of auto_increment?

Yes. Perhaps better use it indirectly with (BIG)SERIAL:

create table foo (
    pk (big)serial
);

> 2. Does this work in PostgreSQL:
>
> INSERT INTO table VALUES ('x','y','z')

Yes, as long as the values are intended for the first N
consecutive columns.

> or do I need to do this
>
> INSERT INTO table (fld_x,fld_y,fld_z) VALUES ('x','y','z')

You don't have to but while it is a bit more typing it is
more future proof.

> 3. Does this work in PostgreSQL:
>
> INSERT INTO table VALUES ('','y','z')
>
> where the empty first item is intended for an auto_increment/SEQUENCE id
> field?
No.

> If not, what is an alternative?

insert into table (auto_inc_col, a, b) values (DEFAULT, 'y', 'z');
insert into table (a, b) values ('y', 'z');

Karsten
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