IDENT_INCR (Transact-SQL)

Returns the increment value (returned as numeric (**@@**MAXPRECISION,0)) specified during the creation of an identity column in a table or view that has an identity column.

Topic link icon Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

IDENT_INCR ( 'table_or_view' )

Arguments

  • ' table_or_view '
    Is an expression specifying the table or view to check for a valid identity increment value. table_or_view can be a character string constant enclosed in quotation marks, a variable, a function, or a column name. table_or_view is char, nchar, varchar, or nvarchar.

Return Types

numeric

Exceptions

Returns NULL on error or if a caller does not have permission to view the object.

In SQL Server, a user can only view the metadata of securables that the user owns or on which the user has been granted permission. This means that metadata-emitting, built-in functions such as IDENT_INCR may return NULL if the user does not have any permission on the object. For more information, see Metadata Visibility Configuration.

Examples

A. Returning the increment value for a specified table

The following example returns the increment value for the Person.Address table in the AdventureWorks database.

USE AdventureWorks2012;
GO
SELECT IDENT_INCR('Person.Address') AS Identity_Increment;
GO
USE AdventureWorks2012;
GO
SELECT IDENT_INCR('Person.Address') AS Identity_Increment;
GO

B. Returning the increment value from multiple tables

The following example returns the tables in the AdventureWorks database that include an identity column with an increment value.

USE AdventureWorks2012;
GO
SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA, TABLE_NAME, 
   IDENT_INCR(TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME) AS IDENT_INCR
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE IDENT_INCR(TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME) IS NOT NULL;
USE AdventureWorks2012;
GO
SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA, TABLE_NAME, 
   IDENT_INCR(TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME) AS IDENT_INCR
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE IDENT_INCR(TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME) IS NOT NULL;

Here is a partial result set.

TABLE_SCHEMA        TABLE_NAME                IDENT_INCR

------------        ------------------------  ----------

Person              Address                            1

Production          ProductReview                      1

Production          TransactionHistory                 1

Person              AddressType                        1

Production          ProductSubcategory                 1

Person              vAdditionalContactInfo             1

dbo                 AWBuildVersion                     1

Production          BillOfMaterials                    1

See Also

Reference

Expressions (Transact-SQL)

System Functions (Transact-SQL)

IDENT_CURRENT (Transact-SQL)

IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)

DBCC CHECKIDENT (Transact-SQL)

sys.identity_columns (Transact-SQL)