Using Mapping Tables to Merge Data with Auto-Number Keys Referenced by Other Tables

Merging tables with auto-number primary keys that are referenced by foreign keys can be challenging due to potential conflicts and loss of integrity. A solution involves creating a mapping table to keep track of the original parent ID from the source database to its new value in the target database. This approach can be applied to any relational DBMS. The general algorithm involves setting the "current" table to the source parent, creating a mapping table, reading required rows from the source database, generating INSERT statements, finding all direct child tables, and repeating the process for each child table. However, there are caveats such as circular references, triggers, calculated columns, and changed columns that need to be considered.