Things to consider when setting up a new sequence: Costume ID’s must have 3 digits to be read by most barcode scanners. If you want to start with 1 then you should start with “001" or “101". You should consider the entire collection before assigning the ID’s. If you want to code the costumes by Costume Type (i.e. all Accessories start with “ACC”, “ACC101" Dresses are “DRE”) or by the Production they are used for (i.e. Music Man = “MM”) that is fine but that needs to be decided before you start entering a lot of data. A little planning ahead will save a lot of work later.
The Costume/Tag ID is essential to the Costume Inventory Database. Each Costume Piece must have a unique ID number. The ID number can contain numbers only or letters and numbers. When you add a new costume piece record you will be asked to assign a new ID or accept the next ID in the sequence. Please note that ID numbers can start with one or more letters - such as ACC-001 or end with one or more letters - such as 1256a - but they cannot start and endwith letters.
Sample ID #
Acceptable?
Reason
12345
OK
ACC-521
OK
1256a
Not Recommended
BBD-123-A
Not Allowed
Cannot have letters at the beginning and end of the ID.
1
Allowed but not a good idea
Barcode scanners must have 3 digits, i.e. “001" or “101".
Understanding how the “next number” is calculated
When a new Costume Piece record is added and the next number in sequence is calculated the program will look only at the numbers within the ID number. See some examples below.
Current Number
Next number
Explanation
12345
12346
12345 + 1 = 12346
AAC-521
AAC-522
521+1 - Prefix stays the same
If you are copying a Costume Piece record the program will do it’s best to assign the next number in sequence. If the calculated ID number is not correct - you can always change it by clicking on the “#” button next to the Costume ID field.
