Using the Request ID to improve performance or security

Every form defined in AR System contains a set of core fields. The Request ID core field has a unique field ID of 1. You can change the field's label to something other than "Request ID," but the field ID is always 1.

The Request ID field contains a character string that holds a unique index for each request. The form of this string is an optional prefix, which can consist of any alphanumeric characters, followed by a 0-padded numeral (for example, HD0000000000001). The length of the Request ID field must be 1 or between 5 and 15 characters, inclusive. Specifying a length of 1 causes leading zeroes to be stripped from the value in the Request ID. The prefix can be as long as the total length of the field less five characters.

Related topic

Improving-system-performance-by-using-the-Data-Cleanup-utility

When new requests are submitted, AR System generates a new ID for the request by appending the next available ID to the prefix, if a prefix is specified.

The Request ID field contains a unique number sequence. Create other fields to contain information specific to your site instead of using the Request ID field. Overloading the Request ID field with other information can restrict your control of this data and can limit the flexibility of searches on the data.

You might want to preserve the Request ID field values of your AR System requests for the following reasons:

  • Backward compatibility—You might have cross-references that see requests by the Request ID field value.
  • History—The Request ID field values were created with the old format, and there is no need for change.
  • Design—Your AR System design requires periodic change to the Request ID field. For example, use the current year as a prefix for that field.
  • No data—No requests were submitted, so there are no Request ID fields to convert.

The following topics show ways to change the Request ID to improve the performance or enhance security:

Action

Reference

Learn how to reset the IDs to make them available for new requests.

Learn how to change the length or prefix of all the request ID.

Learn how to change the length of the Request ID fields by using SQL commands or by editing an AR Export file.

Understand the changes that you might need to make to other tables when you modify the main data table for the Request ID field.

These procedures address the most commonly requested AR System technical information. For access to the complete set of AR System technical information and procedures, visit the BMC Support.

 

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