[eluser]jmadsen[/eluser]
Just store your actual id in a hidden field/etc, and use it to search on while you display a sequential number, like how a hyperlink works. I assume "run a query on them" mean from the same page.
Alternatively, make a "code" that displays nicely for your users but also tells you the id info you need. (i.e., "SAF-012-001" is meeting 1 to them, but you know it is id 12 and "SAF" just makes it look sophisticated :-) ).
If you REALLY have to search on id, only display 1,2,3..., but don't want to store it in a field, I could write you a query that searched on "the 5th safety meeting", but I'm not very inclined to and recommend very strongly against it. You'll hose your data at some point.
If you want to do updates to your data, you need to have a unique key of some sort. which means you have store that unique key somehow. Your question seems to boil down to "How do I get around that rule?", but you can't.
