mysql auto-incrementing index fields

[jeffj]

Recently I added some records to a table, then deleted those records.

they had key values 1 through 5 (assigned by mysql)

After deleting them and adding more more records, the index field key values started at 6.

I wanted them to start at 1 since I will be converting data into the table before going live and my key values are already assigned in the data I'll be importing.

do I have to drop and re-create the table for mysql to start assigning key values at 1 again?

how is this controlled/tracked by mysql???

thanks in advance.

- jeff

[Xenon]

instead of emptiing the table via DELETE you should use truncate table, that resets the counter as well.

on the other hand, if you have the id value already set, then mysql won't autoincrement it, it just does so, if you don't have set an id