Primary key really needed?

[garrisonwa]

I am really new to Access but have inherited a db which was set up without primary keys. It basically contains information gathered from a survey. There are 5 tables - each one corresponding to a different section of the same survey. (60 records total) Each table has the responding organization's name in a field, but that is the only overlapping field. In the end, I link all of the data to Excel spreadsheets and chart the whole thing out which will in turn become part of a Word document.

My question is that with everything working currently (links, etc), is it worth it to set up a primary key? And if so, do I add an extra field for NameID into every table?

I know this is basic stuff, but it is tripping me up. TIA

 

[Parra]

It depends, on how you want to analyze the data. On some databases I used Primary Keys, on other I don't.

In some DB's I have tables that use a Primary Key and others that don't.

Read up on a one-to-many relationship, to see what they are used for.

Some times I think they are pain. But if you don't have them, and run reports, you could be overlooking some data.

Parra