Conflict Replication

Hi,
We have a merge replication between our 3 SQL servers at 3 different
locations. 1 is the Publisher and 2 are subscribers. We have PK on a table.
(unique field which is auto incremental by 1) On the Publisher if the user
creates a new order, the table assigns it a number e.g. 1000 in the unique
field (auto-incremented), and at the same time a user enters a new order in
the Subscriber which is also assigned a number i.e. 1000 in the unique field
(auto-incremented). Now when the merge replication takes place, since the
unique number i.e. 1000 has allready been assigned on the Publisher, the
details for order number 1000 on the Subscriber is not updated on the
Publisher due to Primary Key constraints and a conflict arises. In this
scenario we would loose data on the subscriber due to the primary key
constraint conflict.

This would leave the user very frustrated as he would have to redo the
order. How do we resolve this situation whereby both the subscriber and the
Publisher order number is replicated without creating any conflicts.

This is really urgent, so any help soon will be highly appreciated.

If you want schema of the tables and the replication design, we can provide
you with that.

Thanks.
Rahul

Rahul - my guess is that you are on SQL Server 2000 and have accepted all the
defaults in creating a merge publication. In this case you'll have to
manually manage the identity ranges - reseed on each subscriber to avoid
overlaps. Ideally you want SQL Server to do all this for you and the option
is there - on the article properties there is a tab for automatic identity
range management. Unfortunately you can't set it retrospectively so you'll
need to reinitialize to have it managed automatically. Note that it is
automatic by default on SQL 2005!
HTH,
Paul Ibison (www.replicationanswers.com)