SQL Server : how to manage foreign key? When we need merge data from different locations?

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I develop an inventory software in C# using Visual Studio 2017.

The Database used is SQL Server 2016. The software runs at different locations on local SQL Servers.

Server1                     server2              server3



Location A                Location B           Location C



   Db1                        Db2                 Db3



Customer                    Customer           Customer



CustId   Name           CustId   Name       CustId    Name

---------------         -----------------   -------------------

  1      John              1     Peter         1      Watson

For example, I have generated invoice 1001 from Server1, 1002 from Server2 and 1003 from Server 3 (all three invoice's CustId are 1 but name are different)

After merge above records to Location D are as below:

                   Db4 Location D           Customer Table 

              InvNo   InvId CustId          CustId  CustomerName   GUID

              1001      1        1              1       John        x      Server1 

              1002     21        1              1       Peter       x1     Server2

              1003     31        1              1       Watson      x2     Server3

CustomerId in Invoice table is a foreign key reference.

My problem is: the Customer table has three duplicate Id (1) for different names.

Suppose I used query to my software

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustId = InvoiceMst.CustId

then it is wrong after the merge.

If I use CustomerName Instead of CustomerId as foreignKey then there is no problem. I can write query as

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustomerNAME = InvoiceMst.CustomerName

so Is it right way to use CustomerName as foreign key? Or any other best option?

Thanks.

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

1

The fastest way to fix this is to redesign your tables to use GUID instead of INT as the CustomerId. Why? The GUID should not repeat and it is made for this situation. Then you can use the CustomerId as the foreign key as you should. If you use CustomerName it will break when you have more than one person with the same name. forums.asp.net/t/…
– montewhizdoh
Nov 11 at 15:38

If its just 3 ids that are identical, why dont you fix them and add an auto increment to it? should have been there from the start if its a primary key
– comphonia
Nov 11 at 16:00

Thanks Montewhizdoh. this is usefull. I will change my table structure. thanks again
– Dhiren Naik
Nov 11 at 16:12

The typical way to handle this would be to add a LocationID column to all relevant tables, and make the (LocationId, CustomerId) pair the primary key for the Customer table (and thus reference it from other tables by using both columns, too). Give each of your locations a unique LocationID, and your problems are solved
– marc_s
Nov 11 at 19:16

add a comment |

up vote
0
down vote

favorite

I develop an inventory software in C# using Visual Studio 2017.

The Database used is SQL Server 2016. The software runs at different locations on local SQL Servers.

Server1                     server2              server3



Location A                Location B           Location C



   Db1                        Db2                 Db3



Customer                    Customer           Customer



CustId   Name           CustId   Name       CustId    Name

---------------         -----------------   -------------------

  1      John              1     Peter         1      Watson

For example, I have generated invoice 1001 from Server1, 1002 from Server2 and 1003 from Server 3 (all three invoice's CustId are 1 but name are different)

After merge above records to Location D are as below:

                   Db4 Location D           Customer Table 

              InvNo   InvId CustId          CustId  CustomerName   GUID

              1001      1        1              1       John        x      Server1 

              1002     21        1              1       Peter       x1     Server2

              1003     31        1              1       Watson      x2     Server3

CustomerId in Invoice table is a foreign key reference.

My problem is: the Customer table has three duplicate Id (1) for different names.

Suppose I used query to my software

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustId = InvoiceMst.CustId

then it is wrong after the merge.

If I use CustomerName Instead of CustomerId as foreignKey then there is no problem. I can write query as

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustomerNAME = InvoiceMst.CustomerName

so Is it right way to use CustomerName as foreign key? Or any other best option?

Thanks.

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

1

The fastest way to fix this is to redesign your tables to use GUID instead of INT as the CustomerId. Why? The GUID should not repeat and it is made for this situation. Then you can use the CustomerId as the foreign key as you should. If you use CustomerName it will break when you have more than one person with the same name. forums.asp.net/t/…
– montewhizdoh
Nov 11 at 15:38

If its just 3 ids that are identical, why dont you fix them and add an auto increment to it? should have been there from the start if its a primary key
– comphonia
Nov 11 at 16:00

Thanks Montewhizdoh. this is usefull. I will change my table structure. thanks again
– Dhiren Naik
Nov 11 at 16:12

The typical way to handle this would be to add a LocationID column to all relevant tables, and make the (LocationId, CustomerId) pair the primary key for the Customer table (and thus reference it from other tables by using both columns, too). Give each of your locations a unique LocationID, and your problems are solved
– marc_s
Nov 11 at 19:16

add a comment |

up vote
0
down vote

favorite

I develop an inventory software in C# using Visual Studio 2017.

The Database used is SQL Server 2016. The software runs at different locations on local SQL Servers.

Server1                     server2              server3



Location A                Location B           Location C



   Db1                        Db2                 Db3



Customer                    Customer           Customer



CustId   Name           CustId   Name       CustId    Name

---------------         -----------------   -------------------

  1      John              1     Peter         1      Watson

For example, I have generated invoice 1001 from Server1, 1002 from Server2 and 1003 from Server 3 (all three invoice's CustId are 1 but name are different)

After merge above records to Location D are as below:

                   Db4 Location D           Customer Table 

              InvNo   InvId CustId          CustId  CustomerName   GUID

              1001      1        1              1       John        x      Server1 

              1002     21        1              1       Peter       x1     Server2

              1003     31        1              1       Watson      x2     Server3

CustomerId in Invoice table is a foreign key reference.

My problem is: the Customer table has three duplicate Id (1) for different names.

Suppose I used query to my software

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustId = InvoiceMst.CustId

then it is wrong after the merge.

If I use CustomerName Instead of CustomerId as foreignKey then there is no problem. I can write query as

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustomerNAME = InvoiceMst.CustomerName

so Is it right way to use CustomerName as foreign key? Or any other best option?

Thanks.

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

I develop an inventory software in C# using Visual Studio 2017.

The Database used is SQL Server 2016. The software runs at different locations on local SQL Servers.

Server1                     server2              server3



Location A                Location B           Location C



   Db1                        Db2                 Db3



Customer                    Customer           Customer



CustId   Name           CustId   Name       CustId    Name

---------------         -----------------   -------------------

  1      John              1     Peter         1      Watson

For example, I have generated invoice 1001 from Server1, 1002 from Server2 and 1003 from Server 3 (all three invoice's CustId are 1 but name are different)

After merge above records to Location D are as below:

                   Db4 Location D           Customer Table 

              InvNo   InvId CustId          CustId  CustomerName   GUID

              1001      1        1              1       John        x      Server1 

              1002     21        1              1       Peter       x1     Server2

              1003     31        1              1       Watson      x2     Server3

CustomerId in Invoice table is a foreign key reference.

My problem is: the Customer table has three duplicate Id (1) for different names.

Suppose I used query to my software

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustId = InvoiceMst.CustId

then it is wrong after the merge.

If I use CustomerName Instead of CustomerId as foreignKey then there is no problem. I can write query as

select Customername, InvNo

from InvoiceMst

left join CustomerMst on CustomerMst.CustomerNAME = InvoiceMst.CustomerName

so Is it right way to use CustomerName as foreign key? Or any other best option?

Thanks.

c# sql .net

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

edited Nov 11 at 19:14

marc_s

567k12810981249

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

asked Nov 11 at 15:11

Dhiren Naik

1

The fastest way to fix this is to redesign your tables to use GUID instead of INT as the CustomerId. Why? The GUID should not repeat and it is made for this situation. Then you can use the CustomerId as the foreign key as you should. If you use CustomerName it will break when you have more than one person with the same name. forums.asp.net/t/…
– montewhizdoh
Nov 11 at 15:38

If its just 3 ids that are identical, why dont you fix them and add an auto increment to it? should have been there from the start if its a primary key
– comphonia
Nov 11 at 16:00

Thanks Montewhizdoh. this is usefull. I will change my table structure. thanks again
– Dhiren Naik
Nov 11 at 16:12

The typical way to handle this would be to add a LocationID column to all relevant tables, and make the (LocationId, CustomerId) pair the primary key for the Customer table (and thus reference it from other tables by using both columns, too). Give each of your locations a unique LocationID, and your problems are solved
– marc_s
Nov 11 at 19:16

add a comment |

1

The fastest way to fix this is to redesign your tables to use GUID instead of INT as the CustomerId. Why? The GUID should not repeat and it is made for this situation. Then you can use the CustomerId as the foreign key as you should. If you use CustomerName it will break when you have more than one person with the same name. forums.asp.net/t/…
– montewhizdoh
Nov 11 at 15:38

If its just 3 ids that are identical, why dont you fix them and add an auto increment to it? should have been there from the start if its a primary key
– comphonia
Nov 11 at 16:00

Thanks Montewhizdoh. this is usefull. I will change my table structure. thanks again
– Dhiren Naik
Nov 11 at 16:12

The typical way to handle this would be to add a LocationID column to all relevant tables, and make the (LocationId, CustomerId) pair the primary key for the Customer table (and thus reference it from other tables by using both columns, too). Give each of your locations a unique LocationID, and your problems are solved
– marc_s
Nov 11 at 19:16

The fastest way to fix this is to redesign your tables to use GUID instead of INT as the CustomerId. Why? The GUID should not repeat and it is made for this situation. Then you can use the CustomerId as the foreign key as you should. If you use CustomerName it will break when you have more than one person with the same name. forums.asp.net/t/…
– montewhizdoh
Nov 11 at 15:38

If its just 3 ids that are identical, why dont you fix them and add an auto increment to it? should have been there from the start if its a primary key
– comphonia
Nov 11 at 16:00

Thanks Montewhizdoh. this is usefull. I will change my table structure. thanks again
– Dhiren Naik
Nov 11 at 16:12

The typical way to handle this would be to add a LocationID column to all relevant tables, and make the (LocationId, CustomerId) pair the primary key for the Customer table (and thus reference it from other tables by using both columns, too). Give each of your locations a unique LocationID, and your problems are solved
– marc_s
Nov 11 at 19:16

add a comment |

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