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Note  The information in this topic applies only to a Microsoft Access database (.mdb).

If you plan to replicate (replication: The process of copying a database so that two or more copies can exchange updates of data or replicated objects. This exchange is called synchronization.) your database, you need to consider what field size is appropriate for the AutoNumber field used as a table's primary key (primary key: One or more fields (columns) whose values uniquely identify each record in a table. A primary key cannot allow Null values and must always have a unique index. A primary key is used to relate a table to foreign keys in other tables.). If you use an AutoNumber field as the primary key for a table in the replicated database, set its FieldSize property to either Long Integer or Replication ID.

• If fewer than 100 records are routinely added between synchronizing (synchronization: The process of updating two members of a replica set by exchanging all updated records and objects in each member. Two replica set members are synchronized when the changes in each have been applied to the other.) replicas (replica: A copy of a database that is a member of a replica set and can be synchronized with other replicas in the set. Changes to the data in a replicated table in one replica are sent and applied to the other replicas.), use a Long Integer setting for the FieldSize property to take up less disk space.
• If more than 100 records are routinely added between synchronizing replicas, you should use Replication ID for the FieldSize property setting to prevent records from being assigned the same primary key value in each replica. Note, however, that an AutoNumber field with a Replication ID field size produces a 128-bit value that will require more disk space.