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Primary key symbol not showing in one table

Anonymous
2018-02-12T19:55:09+00:00

I have an Access app developed in 2010 (Windows 7) and running in 2013 (Windows 10).  It runs fine and primary keys are working fine.  However, I just noticed that the primary key for one table (indexed with No Duplicates) no longer has the key symbol showing to the left of that table row or in the relationships window.  The key symbol shows for all other tables.

Considering the app is working as it should, is there any significance to this?  Should I be concerned?  Should I delete this primary key and re-create it?

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Anonymous
2018-02-13T06:32:18+00:00

Sounds like you got to the correct solution. I have, however, seen this symptom in databases that had become corrupt; sometimes the key icon would be restored by manually resetting the field to be the PK - and later disappear again.

It would be prudent to compact and repair, if you haven't; or (perhaps better) create a new, empty database and Import everything from this.

Is the database properly split (and all this is happening in the backend)? If not - run, do not walk, to the database splitter wizard or otherwise split it! A shared database is at real risk for corruption.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-02-13T21:49:26+00:00

    Thanks John.  Yes, this is a split database and occurred in the backend, and it's not a multi-user app so never more than one person accessing it at one time.  Everything appears to working properly.  I'll keep watch on it periodically to make sure this symptom doesn't reoccur.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-02-13T06:08:33+00:00

    What I’m talking about IS a primary key that is BOTH a PK and a unique index.  Nonetheless the key symbol is not showing.  I know it’s a PK because clicking on the Primary Key button on the ribbon results in a message saying you can’t change a PK.  The missing key symbol is apparently a display issue only.

    Here’s what I decided to do to fix this display issue:

    • remove the relationships connected to this PK in the Relationships window
    • click on the PK button on the ribbon to re-set it as a PK
    • restore the relationship connections for this PK

    Voila … the key symbol is now showing again  as it should be.  I've never seen this display issue before.

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  3. Tom van Stiphout 40,211 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2018-02-12T20:29:24+00:00

    There is a difference between a unique index and a primary key.

    Design the table. Click the Indexes button in the Ribbon. You may want to delete the unique index, and put a PK in.

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