So, then how do I easily spot this with a reasonably recent standard client?
Using QT client. 0.8.0+ works fine, probably older clients as well.
[snip rpc stuff]
That sounds doable indeed, thx! Never thought of saving more than just a txid, then again, I'm not running a shop worth stealing from (yet).
In theory you don't need to save more than just the txid, you should be able to look it up the rest as/when needed. However I didn't code bitcoind, I don't know every event which could result in it repository changing. As someone with a background in enterprise "database/backend stuff" (official title) that doesn't leave me with a happy feeling. I don't like the idea of relying on data which a third party (bitcoind) has direct access to. If I put the data in a repository and strictly control access then it makes for a more controlled environment and that makes me more confident that there will not be any unexpected changes.
It may not be necessary, I just have never traced every possible condition that might result in the bitcoind changing information in the wallet that I may be unaware of.
Now sendtoaddress just returns an id for what you did that might be altered by the distributed bookkeepers before being fixed into the ledger.
This getnormalizedtxid seems to give you something short to recognise your tx back no matter how long someone put in on an anvil and banged at it.