finding the most recent records

I didn't find who originally asked how to do this, but it IS possible to
identify the most recent if you have a field in the table defined as
"field1 datetime not null default text 'now'". you'll only run into a
problem if more than one record is inserted AT THE EXACT SAME SECOND -- but
postgres will just put the same timestamp in there (don't define the field
as unique). I am putting this field (along with one that defaults to
current_user) in ALL my tables for our application. the values are input
"behind the scenes" by default whenever anyone adds a record, and it gives
me a simple little audit trail. for instance, when that deceptive employee
creates a "vendor" for himself and then creates a false purchase order and
receipt thereby setting in motion a payment due to himself, i can see by
whom and when the records were created. hopefully i have other controls in
place to prevent this from happening, but the point is that the timestamp
works fine and can help you identify the most recent records!

jt