IDENT_INCR (Transact-SQL)

**APPLIES TO:** ![yes](media/yes.png)SQL Server (starting with 2008) ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Database ![no](media/no.png)Azure SQL Data Warehouse ![no](media/no.png)Parallel Data Warehouse

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 AdventureWorks2012 database.

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 AdventureWorks2012 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;

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