hi,

As I mentioned earlier I think of the surrogate key as a proxy for the real key, hence my loss of the true name "surrogate".

More to your question "So, is it fair to say that Normalization rules do not apply to surrogate keys?"

this is one of the old debates in database modeling. Some would say that if you need a surrogate key that you havent done your job correctly in creating the primary key. Others say that the Time and programming that you save by using a surrogate key outweighs the hit you add by using one.

I tend to use Surrogate keys because a lot of my programming deals with using controls that do not play nicely with more than display and value fields.

of course as with everything YMMV

hope that helps,

I would also suggest Celko's book "SQL for Smarties." He is among the more rigid in his theory but the book is very well laid out and I have learned a lot from it.

HTH

Tal McMahon