Unique ID Generation - Kinda

[SSgt P]

I need to generate a specific ID and am not exactly sure how to do it, maybe
you guys can help. I have a range of codes from RTAD0001 to RTAD1000 as a bank
of possible values. I will need to assign a value from this bank to specific
records. The values will never be re-used so I can start with RTAD001 and
increment it each time. I'm thinking of storing the value in a table and when I
want to assign it I could get the value, increment by 1, then write the new
value back to the table and the record receiving the value. Can I increment a
'value' composed of letters and numbers? Should I store those seperately and
combine the two for the insert on the record? Any ideas? thanks,

[chicken run]

since all the codes start with RTAD, just seperate the RTAD and the number. each time, just let the database does the auto increment, and then add the new number to RTAD.

[SSgt P]

Got it, what's the column type settings I should use in mySQL to store the
number being that it needs the leading zeros? Will one of the zeros drop when
needed? Like when I go from 0009 to 0010? Sorry I'm such a dope on this. Kevin