Currently I'm generating unique ids for rows in my database using int and auto_increment. These ids are public facing so in the url you can see something like this https://example.com/path/1 or https://example.com/path/2
After talking with another engineer they've advised me that I should use randomly generated ids so that they're not guessable.
How can I generate a unique ID & without doing a forloop on the database each time to make sure it's unique? e.g. take stripe for example. All of their ids are price_sdfgsdfg or prod_iisdfgsdfg. Whats the best way to generate unique ids for rows like these?
Without knowing which language or database you're using, the simplest way is using uuids.
To prevent downloading all existing database unique keys, and then for looping over them all, simply just try to INSERT INTO whichever table you are using.
If the result fails (e.g. Exception), then the row is taken, continue.
If the result passes, break loop.
This only works when you have a column which is NOT NULL, and UNIQUE.
That's how I "know" without looping over the whole database of IDs, or downloading them into local memory, etc.
Using auto_increment wont lead to duplicates because when a SQL or no-SQL table is in use, it will be locked and given to the next available number in the queue, which is the beauty of databases.
SQL example (mySQL, SQLite, mariadb):
CREATE TABLE `my_db`.`my_table` ( `unique_id` INT NOT NULL , UNIQUE (`unique_id`)) ENGINE = InnoDB;`
Insert a unique_id
INSERT INTO `test` (`unique_id`) VALUES ('999999999');
Great, we have a row
INSERT INTO `test` (`unique_id`) VALUES ('999999999');
If not, then retry:
Error:
#1062 - Duplicate entry '999999999' for key 'unique_id'
If these are public URLs, and the content is sensitive, then I definitely do not recommend int's as someone can trivially guess 1 through 99999999... etc.
In any language, have a look at /dev/urandom.
In shell/bash scripts, I might use uuidgen:
9dccd646-043e-4984-9126-3060b4ced180
In Python, I'll use pandas:
df.set_index(pd.util.hash_pandas_object(df, encoding='utf8'), drop=True, inplace=True)
df.index.rename('hash', inplace=True)
Lastly, UUID's aren't perfect: they are only a-f 0-9 all lowercase, but they are easy to generate: every language has one.
In JavaScript you may want to check out some secure Open Source apps, for example, Jitsi: https://github.com/jitsi/js-utils/blob/master/random/roomNameGenerator.js where they conjugate word:
E.g. Satisfied-Global-Architectural-Bitter
I'm trying to build a star schema in Oracle 12c. In my case my data source is not a relational database but a single excel/csv file which is populated via a google form, which means I don't have any sort of reference from a source system such as auto incremental keys/ids. Now what would be the best approach to build a star schema given this condition?
File row sample:
<submitted timestamp>,<submitted by user>,<region>,<country>,<branch>,<branch location>,<branch area>,<branch type>,<branch name>,<branch private? yes/no value>,<the following would be all "fact" values (measurements),...,...,...
In case i wanted to build a "branch" dimension, how would I handle updates/inserts after the first load into the dimension table?
Thought solution so far:
I had thought of making a concatenated string "key" with the branch values, which would make it unique (underscore would be the "glue" to concatenate the values), eg:
<region>_<country>_<branch>_<branch location> as branch_key
I would insert all the distinct branches into a staging table, including they branch_key column for each one of them, then when trying to load into the dimension I could compare which key does not exists yet in my dimension table and then insert it. As for updates, I'm a bit stuck on how to handle that, I had thought of having another file mapping which branches are active having a expiration date column. Basically trying to simulate what I could do having the data in a database instead of CSV files.
This is all I can think of so far, do you have any other recommendations/ideas on how to implement this? Take on consideration that the data source cannot as in I have to read these csv files, since data is not stored anywhere else.
Thank you.
I am trying to create an application for work. The app will be used internally and should allow us to assign some barcode numbers to our product SKUs. I am using Visual Studio / Basic 2010 Express to build this as my very limited and beginners experience is with VS 2010 Express.
I'll give a bit of information about how I see this application working and then I'll get on with my actual question:
I see the app allowing us to create a new Product in the database by a user entering the SKU and description of the product and then the app will assign this product the next available base number for the barcode and from there the app will (if required) generate the correct EAN13 and GTIN14 barcodes and store them against that SKU.
As a company we have a large range of barcode numbers we can use and we have split this large range up so that the first 50,000 (for example) are for our EAN13 codes, the next 50K are for our GTIN14 codes for Inner Cartons and the remaining 50K are for Master Cartons.
So in order to achieve this I have my Product table which contains the fields 'SKU', 'Description' and 'BarcodeBase'. I have managed to set the BarcodeBase field as unique and I am attempting to use AutoIncrement(Seed & Step) to make sure that this assigns the product a base barcode (before I calculate the check digit) that falls within the EAN13 range as described above...
So finally my question is: Is there a way I can put an upper limit on AutoIncrement so that on the off chance, way way in the future, the base barcode number will not overflow into the next range?
I've been googling unsuccessfully for an answer and I am only coming across things which talk about the data type of the field having a limit. For example the upper limit of an Int32 type. Through my searches I have become vaguely aware of the 'Expression' property of the field and also the possibility of coding a partial class - but I don't know if that is the right direction to go in or if there is something much simpler that I am overlooking / have not found.
I would really appreciate any help!
Edit: As per GrandMasterFlush's comment - I have added a local database to my VS project. So I think I am using a SQL Server Compact 3.5 db.
Use a CHECK constraint, e.g.:
ALTER TABLE dbo.Product ADD CONSTRAINT ...
CHECK (BarcodeBase BETWEEN 1 AND 50000);
I suggest you do not make BarcodeBase an IDENTITY column in the Product table (IDENTITY is the feature that you are referring to as "autoincrement"). IDENTITY is really designed for surrogate key use only and isn't ideal for meaningful business data. You can't update an IDENTITY column, it isn't necessarily sequential, may have gaps in the number sequence and you also only get to use one IDENTITY column per table. Instead of using IDENTITY in the Product table you can generate the sequence elsewhere, for example by incrementing a single value stored in a single row table.
I'm working on a VB6 program that connects to a SQL Server 2008 R2 database. In the past I have always used the MSFlexGrid control and populated it manually. Now, however, the guy who is paying me for this wants me to use data-bound grids instead, which forces me to use the MSHFlexGrid control because I'm using ADO and not DAO. So, I have two questions...
First, how would I move a column in a MSHFlexGrid? For example, if I wanted the third column to appear as the sixth column in the grid, is there a simple single line of code that would do that?
Second, believe it or not, I've never had to do anything in a grid other than display the data, as is, from a recordset. Now, however, I have a recordset with some fields that contain just ID numbers that refer to records in other files - for example, a field containing an ID number referring to a record in the Customers table, instead of the field containing the customer's name. What is the easiest way to, instead of having a column showing customer ID numbers from the recordset, having that column show customer names? I thought I read somewhere that there's a way to embed a sql command in a MSHFlexGrid column, but if there is I wouldn't know how to do it. Is this possible, or is there a simpler way to do it?
TIA,
Kevin
The column order would typically be handled by your SELECT statement.
Say you have a Pies table that has a FruitID foreign key related to the FruitID in a Fruits table:
SELECT PieID AS ID, Pie, Fruit FROM Pies LEFT OUTER JOIN Fruits
ON Pies.FruitID = Fruits.FruitID
This returns 3 items: ID, Pie, and Fruit in that order.
Moving columns after the query/display operation is rarely used, but yes ColPosition can be used for that.
Wow! VB6.... Back to the future! :-)
You can move Columns using the ColPosition Property.
This article shows how you could setup the grid to display hierarchical data.
If you just want to display the customer name on the same line as the main data then that is doable as well by just creating the proper SQL for your data source. For that matter you can control the column order the same way as well.
Now, how about considering upgrading to .Net? Just kidding..... No, I'm not. OK. I am, maybe. :-)
To elaborate ..
a) A table (BIGTABLE) has a capacity to hold a million rows with a primary Key as the ID. (random and unique)
b) What algorithm can be used to arrive at an ID that has not been used so far. This number will be used to insert another row into table BIGTABLE.
Updated the question with more details..
C) This table already has about 100 K rows and the primary key is not an set as identity.
d) Currently, a random number is generated as the primary key and a row inserted into this table, if the insert fails another random number is generated. the problem is sometimes it goes into a loop and the random numbers generated are pretty random, but unfortunately, They already exist in the table. so if we re try the random number generation number after some time it works.
e) The sybase rand() function is used to generate the random number.
Hope this addition to the question helps clarify some points.
The question is of course: why do you want a random ID?
One case where I encountered a similar requirement, was for client IDs of a webapp: the client identifies himself with his client ID (stored in a cookie), so it has to be hard to brute force guess another client's ID (because that would allow hijacking his data).
The solution I went with, was to combine a sequential int32 with a random int32 to obtain an int64 that I used as the client ID. In PostgreSQL:
CREATE FUNCTION lift(integer, integer) returns bigint AS $$
SELECT ($1::bigint << 31) + $2
$$ LANGUAGE SQL;
CREATE FUNCTION random_pos_int() RETURNS integer AS $$
select floor((lift(1,0) - 1)*random())::integer
$$ LANGUAGE sql;
ALTER TABLE client ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT
lift((nextval('client_id_seq'::regclass))::integer, random_pos_int());
The generated IDs are 'half' random, while the other 'half' guarantees you cannot obtain the same ID twice:
select lift(1, random_pos_int()); => 3108167398
select lift(2, random_pos_int()); => 4673906795
select lift(3, random_pos_int()); => 7414644984
...
Why is the unique ID Random? Why not use IDENTITY?
How was the ID chosen for the existing rows.
The simplest thing to do is probably (Select Max(ID) from BIGTABLE) and then make sure your new "Random" ID is larger than that...
EDIT: Based on the added information I'd suggest that you're screwed.
If it's an option: Copy the table, then redefine it and use an Identity Column.
If, as another answer speculated, you do need a truly random Identifier: make your PK two fields. An Identity Field and then a random number.
If you simply can't change the tables structure checking to see if the id exists before trying the insert is probably your only recourse.
There isn't really a good algorithm for this. You can use this basic construct to find an unused id:
int id;
do {
id = generateRandomId();
} while (doesIdAlreadyExist(id));
doSomethingWithNewId(id);
Your best bet is to make your key space big enough that the probability of collisions is extremely low, then don't worry about it. As mentioned, GUIDs will do this for you. Or, you can use a pure random number as long as it has enough bits.
This page has the formula for calculating the collision probability.
A bit outside of the box.
Why not pre-generate your random numbers ahead of time? That way, when you insert a new row into bigtable, the check has already been made. That would make inserts into bigtable a constant time operation.
You will have to perform the checks eventually, but that could be offloaded to a second process that doesn’t involve the sensitive process of inserting into bigtable.
Or go generate a few billion random numbers, and delete the duplicates, then you won't have to worry for quite some time.
Make the key field UNIQUE and IDENTITY and you wont have to worry about it.
If this is something you'll need to do often you will probably want to maintain a live (non-db) data structure to help you quickly answer this question. A 10-way tree would be good. When the app starts it populates the tree by reading the keys from the db, and then keeps it in sync with the various inserts and deletes made in the db. So long as your app is the only one updating the db the tree can be consulted very quickly when verifying that the next large random key is not already in use.
Pick a random number, check if it already exists, if so then keep trying until you hit one that doesn't.
Edit: Or
better yet, skip the check and just try to insert the row with different IDs until it works.
First question: Is this a planned database or a already functional one. If it already has data inside then the answer by bmdhacks is correct. If it is a planned database here is the second question:
Does your primary key really need to be random? If the answer is yes then use a function to create a random id from with a known seed and a counter to know how many Ids have been created. Each Id created will increment the counter.
If you keep the seed secret (i.e., have the seed called and declared private) then no one else should be able to predict the next ID.
If ID is purely random, there is no algorithm to find an unused ID in a similarly random fashion without brute forcing. However, as long as the bit-depth of your random unique id is reasonably large (say 64 bits), you're pretty safe from collisions with only a million rows. If it collides on insert, just try again.
depending on your database you might have the option of either using a sequenser (oracle) or a autoincrement (mysql, ms sql, etc). Or last resort do a select max(id) + 1 as new id - just be carefull of concurrent requests so you don't end up with the same max-id twice - wrap it in a lock with the upcomming insert statement
I've seen this done so many times before via brute force, using random number generators, and it's always a bad idea. Generating a random number outside of the db and attempting to see if it exists will put a lot strain on your app and database. And it could lead to 2 processes picking the same id.
Your best option is to use MySQL's autoincrement ability. Other databases have similar functionality. You are guaranteed a unique id and won't have issues with concurrency.
It is probably a bad idea to scan every value in that table every time looking for a unique value. I think the way to do this would be to have a value in another table, lock on that table, read the value, calculate the value of the next id, write the value of the next id, release the lock. You can then use the id you read with the confidence your current process is the only one holding that unique value. Not sure how well it scales.
Alternatively use a GUID for your ids, since each newly generated GUID is supposed to be unique.
Is it a requirement that the new ID also be random? If so, the best answer is just to loop over (randomize, test for existence) until you find one that doesn't exist.
If the data just happens to be random, but that isn't a strong constraint, you can just use SELECT MAX(idcolumn), increment in a way appropriate to the data, and use that as the primary key for your next record.
You need to do this atomically, so either lock the table or use some other concurrency control appropriate to your DB configuration and schema. Stored procs, table locks, row locks, SELECT...FOR UPDATE, whatever.
Note that in either approach you may need to handle failed transactions. You may theoretically get duplicate key issues in the first (though that's unlikely if your key space is sparsely populated), and you are likely to get deadlocks on some DBs with approaches like SELECT...FOR UPDATE. So be sure to check and restart the transaction on error.
First check if Max(ID) + 1 is not taken and use that.
If Max(ID) + 1 exceeds the maximum then select an ordered chunk at the top and start looping backwards looking for a hole. Repeat the chunks until you run out of numbers (in which case throw a big error).
if the "hole" is found then save the ID in another table and you can use that as the starting point for the next case to save looping.
Skipping the reasoning of the task itself, the only algorithm that
will give you an ID not in the table
that will be used to insert a new line in the table
will result in a table still having random unique IDs
is generating a random number and then checking if it's already used
The best algorithm in that case is to generate a random number and do a select to see if it exists, or just try to add it if your database errs out sanely. Depending on the range of your key, vs, how many records there are, this could be a small amount of time. It also has the ability to spike and isn't consistent at all.
Would it be possible to run some queries on the BigTable and see if there are any ranges that could be exploited? ie. between 100,000 and 234,000 there are no ID's yet, so we could add ID's there?
Why not append your random number creator with the current date in seconds. This way the only way to have an identical ID is if two users are created at the same second and are given the same random number by your generator.