Some parts of phpgw, for example, this patch:
http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/phpgroupware/setup/inc/class.setup.inc.php.diff?r1=1.9&r2=1.10
are trying to create their own values for insertion into a column which is defined as type 'auto' in it's
respective tables_current.php
This fails on (at least) mssql.

The rationale for not letting the 'auto' column do its job was that eventually, someone wants to have
'app_id' be centrally defined, so operations could be performed by specifying the app_id instead of the
app_name.  The way I see it, there are three options:

Forget about the centrally defined app_id idea, and let the 'auto' column do its job.  How much speed
could one possibly gain by converting everything to use a number instead of app_name?  Then again, if
we always use app_name, we probably don't even need the app_id column.

redefine the app_id column to be 'non-auto', and ALWAYS specify the app_id when inserting.

Call a backend-specific function before and after insertion on a column of type 'auto', which would allow
the insertion to succeed.  For example, on mssql, one would have to execute:
     SET IDENTITY_INSERT $table_name ON
before insertion, and:
     SET IDENTITY_INSERT $table_name OFF
after insertion.