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Database id column or code column

I am working on a project where I have to implement some new functionality.
In the process I have to design some tables and build some editors for that data.
I have one table for categories and one for types.
On client side I have to build some lists using those types, but each list must use types from only one category.
I don't like the idea to use PKs in my C#. I would rather create a column name "Code" in the category table and use that in my C# code, when preparing the lists.
EDIT: I do not mean removing the PK (I will have an int base Id column). I mean adding another column to the category ("Code") to use jsut in C# as string constants, instead of ids.
Is this an okay idea?

If I've understood your question, I would recommend the following structure for your tables:
Table Category
ID Int -- primary key
Code Varchar(8) -- Code value displayed to users
Description Varchar(100)
Table Item
ID Int -- primary key
CategoryID Int -- foreign key to Category
Code Varchar(8) -- Code value displayed to users
Description Varchar(100)
This way, if you change a Category record's Code, nothing changes behind the scenes, and the key values are never exposed to your users.

empID increment on Add emp [duplicate]

How do I auto increment the primary key in a SQL Server database table? I've had a look through the forum but can't see how to do this.
I've looked at the properties but can't see an option. I saw an answer where you go to the Identity specification property and set it to yes and set the Identity increment to 1, but that section is grayed out and I can't change the no to yes.
There must be a simple way to do this but I can't find it.

Make sure that the Key column's datatype is int and then setting identity manually, as image shows
Or just run this code
-- ID is the name of the [to be] identity column
ALTER TABLE [yourTable] DROP COLUMN ID
ALTER TABLE [yourTable] ADD ID INT IDENTITY(1,1)
the code will run, if ID is not the only column in the table
image reference fifo's

When you're creating the table, you can create an IDENTITY column as follows:
CREATE TABLE (
ID_column INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
...
);
The IDENTITY property will auto-increment the column up from number 1. (Note that the data type of the column has to be an integer.) If you want to add this to an existing column, use an ALTER TABLE command.
Edit:
Tested a bit, and I can't find a way to change the Identity properties via the Column Properties window for various tables. I guess if you want to make a column an identity column, you HAVE to use an ALTER TABLE command.

You have to expand the Identity section to expose increment and seed.
Edit: I assumed that you'd have an integer datatype, not char(10). Which is reasonable I'd say and valid when I posted this answer

Expand your database, expand your table right click on your table and select design from dropdown.
Now go Column properties below of it scroll down and find Identity Specification, expand it and you will find Is Identity make it Yes. Now choose Identity Increment right below of it give the value you want to increment in it.

CREATE TABLE Persons (
Personid int IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
LastName varchar(255) NOT NULL,
FirstName varchar(255),
Age int
);
The MS SQL Server uses the IDENTITY keyword to perform an auto-increment feature.
In the example above, the starting value for IDENTITY is 1, and it will increment by 1 for each new record.
Tip: To specify that the "Personid" column should start at value 10 and increment by 5, change it to IDENTITY(10,5).
To insert a new record into the "Persons" table, we will NOT have to specify a value for the "Personid" column (a unique value will be added automatically):

Perhaps I'm missing something but why doesn't this work with the SEQUENCE object? Is this not what you're looking for?
Example:
CREATE SCHEMA blah.
GO
CREATE SEQUENCE blah.blahsequence
START WITH 1
INCREMENT BY 1
NO CYCLE;
CREATE TABLE blah.de_blah_blah
(numbers bigint PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL
......etc
When referencing the squence in say an INSERT command just use:
NEXT VALUE FOR blah.blahsequence
More information and options for SEQUENCE

When you're using Data Type: int you can select the row which you want to get autoincremented and go to the column properties tag. There you can set the identity to 'yes'. The starting value for autoincrement can also be edited there. Hope I could help ;)

I had this issue where I had already created the table and could not change it without dropping the table so what I did was:
(Not sure when they implemented this but had it in SQL 2016)
Right click on the table in the Object Explorer:
Script Table as > DROP And CREATE To > New Query Editor Window
Then do the edit to the script said by Josien; scroll to the bottom where the CREATE TABLE is, find your Primary Key and append IDENTITY(1,1) to the end before the comma. Run script.
The DROP and CREATE script was also helpful for me because of this issue. (Which the generated script handles.)

You can use the keyword IDENTITY as the data type to the column along with PRIMARY KEY constraint when creating the table.
ex:
StudentNumber IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY
In here the first '1' means the starting value and the second '1' is the incrementing value.

If the table is already populated it is not possible to change a column to IDENTITY column or convert it to non IDENTITY column. You would need to export all the data out then you can change column type to IDENTITY or vice versa and then import data back.
I know it is painful process but I believe there is no alternative except for using sequence as mentioned in this post.

Be carefull like if you want the ID elements to be contigius or not. As SQLSERVER ID can jump by 1000 .
Examle: before restart ID=11
after restart , you insert new row in the table, then the id will be 1012.

You could do the following: New Table Creation:
-- create new table with Column ID which is Primary Key and Auto Increment --
CREATE TABLE titles(
id INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY, --Primary Key with Auto-Increment --
keyword VARCHAR(260),
status VARCHAR(10),
);
If you Table Already exists and need to make the changes to ID column to be auto-increment and Primary key, then see below:
ALTER TABLE table DROP COLUMN id; // drop the existing ID in the table
ALTER TABLE table ADD id int IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL; // add new column ID with auto-increment
ALTER TABLE table ADD CONSTRAINT PK_ident_test PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (id); // make it primary key

How would I create "multiple choice" columns in Local Database?

I am using local database for first time with my WPF project. I have the database setup, and I am connecting fine ETC. Ther eare some columns which I want to be multiple choice, either between a few values or a whole bunch of values. Problem is obviously human error will make typos now and then when inputting the data.
How would I go about making the data entry give the user a multiple choice? So for example, I have a column called "Category", and at the moment (this will be expanded later) I only want to allow the following options:
Bronze
Misc
I have the columns set to nvarchar(50) at present, but typing the same string manually constantly... not what I would like to be doing TBH... so... Could I set it so that there are a list of predefined values it will accept? :)
thanks :D

You can use CHECK constraint of any complexity on your table column(s). Check MSDN here
So your table definition would be as:
CREATE TABLE T
(
Category nvarchar(50) CHECK (Category in ('Bronze','Misc'))
)
If you expect your list of possible values to change in the future and you do not want to change a table definition, you can create a separate table with the list of values and use the foreign key.
CREATE TABLE Categories
(
Id int PRIMARY KEY,
CategoryName nvarchar(50)
)
INSERT INTO Categories VALUES (1, 'Bronze'), (2, 'Silver'), (3, 'Misc')
CREATE TABLE T
(
CategoryId int REFERENCES Categories
)

Adding row to Table - Primary Key/Auto Increment Error(System.Data.SQLite)

I'm trying to insert a new row into a database which has four fields, the first is a primary key set as auto incrementing (integer) and the other three are strings.
I insert a new with the following statement:
INSERT INTO Manufacturer VALUES
('Test1','Test2','01332232321')
But I am given the following exception:
"SQLite error\r\ntable Manufacturer
has 4 columns but 3 values were
supplied"
I assumed that the primary key field can be omitted as the database would automatically assign and increment the value for me.
How would I go about fixing this? Is this a simple syntatical error or do I need to rethink my approach completely?

You have to specify columns:
INSERT INTO Manufacturer (col2, col3, col4) VALUES ('Test1','Test2','01332232321')
or pass the NULL value for primary key column.

I think you're looking for how to AUTOINCREMENT in sqllite
also How do I create an AUTOINCREMENT field

How can I Insert/Update into two related tables in one command?

A database exists with two tables
Data_t : DataID Primary Key that is
Identity 1,1. Also has another field
'LEFT' TINYINT
Data_Link_t : DataID PK and FK where
DataID MUST exist in Data_t. Also has another field 'RIGHT' SMALLINT
Coming from a microsoft access environment into C# and sql server I'm looking for a good method of importing a record into this relationship.
The record contains information that belongs on both sides of this join (Possibly inserting/updating upwards 5000 records at once). Bonus to process the entire batch in some kind of LINQ list type command but even if this is done record by record the key goal is that BOTH sides of this record should be processed in the same step.
There are countless approaches and I'm looking at too many to determine which way I should go so I thought faster to ask the general public. Is LINQ an option for inserting/updating a big list like this with LINQ to SQL? Should I go record by record? What approach should I use to add a record to normalized tables that when joined create the full record?

Sounds like a case where I'd write a small stored proc and call that from C# - e.g. as a function on my Linq-to-SQL data context object.
Something like:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.InsertData(#Left TINYINT, #Right SMALLINT)
AS BEGIN
DECLARE #DataID INT
INSERT INTO dbo.Data_t(Left) VALUES(#Left)
SELECT #DataID = SCOPE_IDENTITY();
INSERT INTO dbo.Data_Link_T(DataID, Right) VALUES(#DataID, #Right)
END
If you import that into your data context, you could call this something like:
using(YourDataContext ctx = new YourDataContext)
{
foreach(YourObjectType obj in YourListOfObjects)
{
ctx.InsertData(obj.Left, obj.Right)
}
}
and let the stored proc handle all the rest (all the details, like determining and using the IDENTITY from the first table in the second one) for you.

I have never tried it myself, but you might be able to do exactly what you are asking for by creating an updateable view and then inserting records into the view.
UPDATE
I just tried it, and it doesn't look like it will work.
Msg 4405, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
View or function 'Data_t_and_Data_Link_t' is not updatable because the modification affects multiple base tables.
I guess this is just one more thing for all the Relational Database Theory purists to hate about SQL Server.
ANOTHER UPDATE
Further research has found a way to do it. It can be done with a view and an "instead of" trigger.
create table Data_t
(
DataID int not null identity primary key,
[LEFT] tinyint,
)
GO
create table Data_Link_t
(
DataID int not null primary key foreign key references Data_T (DataID),
[RIGHT] smallint,
)
GO
create view Data_t_and_Data_Link_t
as
select
d.DataID,
d.[LEFT],
dl.[RIGHT]
from
Data_t d
inner join Data_Link_t dl on dl.DataID = d.DataID
GO
create trigger trgInsData_t_and_Data_Link_t on Data_t_and_Data_Link_T
instead of insert
as
insert into Data_t ([LEFT]) select [LEFT] from inserted
insert into Data_Link_t (DataID, [RIGHT]) select ##IDENTITY, [RIGHT] from inserted
go
insert into Data_t_and_Data_Link_t ([LEFT],[RIGHT]) values (1, 2)