When you create a Design Master, any AutoNumber fields with a NewValues property set to Increment are changed to Random; however, the AutoNumber field’s FieldSize property isn’t changed. All existing AutoNumber fields in existing records retain their values, but new values for inserted records are random numbers with values between – 2,000,000,000 and +2,000,000,000. Random AutoNumber fields are not meaningful because they aren’t in any particular order and the highest value doesn’t belong to the record inserted last. When you open a table with a random AutoNumber key, the records appear in the order of ascending random numbers, not in chronological order. With random AutoNumber fields it is possible — although highly unlikely — for records inserted in different replicas to be assigned the same value. If this happens, a unique key error would occur that would require user intervention to resolve. If you experience such problems, consider setting the AutoNumber field’s FieldSize property value to Replication ID or consider using the s_GUID field as the primary key. Because all numbers in the s_GUID field are unique, each record has a different ID.
Before you convert your nonreplicable database into a replicated database, determine if any of your applications or users rely on the order and incremental nature of the AutoNumber field. If so, you can use an additional Date/Time field to provide sequential ordering information.
If your database contains tables that don’t need to be made replicable, set the KeepLocal property to True for those tables. This will prevent the tables from ever being made replicable, and the AutoNumber fields in those tables will not be affected.