Looking for Client ID Generating Software

Thanks for replying,

Because it relates to clients and the purpose is to know whether the client has already presented.
Therefore the code would need to relate to individual client characteristics so that the same code would be generated on a different occasion.

Thanks,

They supply their code or some details and you get their code. A long time ago I wrote a membership app for a gym. This worked for over a decade just fine. I wonder, is this for some school assignment? Sometimes folk can't use simple solutions for the homework.
Bob

Exactly.
Thanks for your reply

That's why we would only be using fixed characteristics: Birthdate, Name, Ethnicity short-codes, gender shortcodes etc.

I've just come across MD5 Hash which is sort of what I was after.

Thanks

I'll input John Smith. OK, all good. Now I'll input JOHN SMITH and see if they were smart enough.
Bob

Sorry, by accident I deleted the reply from the OP saying that it wasn't a school assignment, but for work needing to recognise clients they already had in the database, so they could link to earlier reports about him.

Kees

So you want a certain John Doe with a certain birthdate living on a certain address (or having a certain email-address) to be recognised as an existing customer if he already is in the database. Then you just search the database (using an index preferably) on name, address and birthdate to see if he happens to be present already before inserting him as a new customer.
This won't get him if he moved in the meantime or got a new e-mailaddess, but in the other side, if you only search on name and birthdate different John Doe's with the same birthdate would be found to be the same customer even if they aren't, which is much worse.

Using a unique number (like the SSN) would be the best. Then some other entity is responsible for the identification.

Kees