Re: At the end of my teather with LSMB

[Luke <..hidden..>]

On Wed, 28 May 2008, ..hidden.. wrote:

> > The default is already to increment them (except that they don't reset at
> > the start of the month, if you use something like <?lsmb YY ?><?lsmb MM
> > ?>-001 as your default).  I think they should always seek the lowest
> > possible number, which would cause a reset.
> 
> I don't think that this method of invoice numbering is acceptable in  
> the UK, but I'm not a tax accountant.  Perhaps one way around it is to  

Why do you think that?

It would generate numbers like:

08060001
08060002
08070001
08070002
08070003
etc.

They are higher then all preceding, because even though the right most 
sequence goes back down, the over all number is higher because of the 
ten-thousands place.

Or is it just because of the gaps?  If because of the gaps, then the only 
invoice numbering possible, is sequential with zero gaps.
This no gaps thing is most strange from a U.S. prospective.

> have a column in ar which is unique and database-incremented, in  
> addition to what is now called the invoice number.  Those of use who  
> need a perpetually incrementing invoice number can simply change our  
> templates to use this instead.

That is not necessary.  The invoice number format is quite configurable.  
Just set it to "0000000001", and it will increment for ever, with no 
problems until you have invoiced enough to pay an army of accountants to 
make it their problem instead of yours.

It still will not seek the lowest available value (which requires program 
logic, not just auto incrementing columns), and you could run into a 
situation of:

create invoice 1
create invoice 2
create invoice 3
create invoice 4
delete invoice 3
delete invoice 4
create invoice 5

You then have invoices 1 2 and 5.

Because the column can contain alpha and other data, not just numbers, it 
would be rather difficult to keep the column compressed to the next 
available number in all circumstances.

Additionally, if you delete invoice 3 but not invoice 4, the next will 
still be 5.  Of course, if you are deleting old invoices, maybe the tax 
man really does need to take a look.

Luke