Create an auto numbering column in Dataverse
Autonumber columns automatically generate alphanumeric strings whenever they're created. We can customize the format of these columns and then rely on the system to generate matching values that automatically fill them in at runtime.
While autonumber columns are formally just text columns with extra functionality built on top of them, Power Apps simplifies this concept by exposing Autonumber as a distinct data type. It's important to note that the classic solution explorer doesn't support creating or managing autonumber columns.
To create an autonumber column, we follow the same steps to create a column, and select Autonumber from the Data type drop-down list box.
We may also activate autonumber functionality on an existing text column by opening the column and selecting Autonumber from the Data type drop-down list box. Likewise, we can deactivate autonumber functionality at any time by opening the column and selecting a different option in the Data type drop-down list box.
Autonumber types In order to make the creation of autonumber columns easier, there are a few pre-defined default autonumber types to capture the most common scenarios.
String prefixed number - The most common auto number format is a simple string prefixed number. When this type is selected, the autonumber will consist of an automatically incrementing number with an optional string constant prefix. For example, a string prefixed number with the prefix of Teacher and with Seed value 1000 would generate records such as Teacher-1000, Teacher -1001, Teacher -1002, and so on.
Note: Minimum number of digits: It specifies the minimum number of digits that our auto-generated number sequence will contain. As our number sequence continues to increase, it may become longer than this minimum.
Seed values We can also set a seed value so we can start autonumbering at any value. The seed value of an autonumber column is the starting number that is used for the number portion of the format. For example, if we want an autonumber column to generate records such as:
- Teacher-1000
- Teacher-1001
- Teacher-1002
and so on,
then the desired seed value is 1000 because it's the value that our number sequence starts with. Autonumber columns have a default seed value of 1000, but we can set a custom seed value if we want.
