get new SQL record ID

Question

How can I get back the autogenerated ID for a new record I just inserted? (Using ASP classic and MSSQL 2005)

Answer 1

SELECT @@Identity or SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY() both work however Selecting SCOPE_Identity() is safer because it returns the last auto generated ID within your current scope. So for example assume we have a table called ScopeIDTable and on this table we have a trigger. This trigger will insert into a record into TriggerIdTable both tables have an auto increment column.

If you use SELECT @@Identity you will get the last auto increment in that session which would be the Id generated from within the trigger (TriggerIdTable).

If you use SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY() you will get the id from your ScopeIdTable.

Answer 2

I always wondered why one would ever want to use

@@identity

since

select scope_identity() 

obviously is the most save way to accomplish what Scot is asking for.

Answer 3

You run the query

select scope_identity()

using the same database connection, before doing anything else with it. The result is, as you probably expect, a record set containing a single row that has a single field. You can access the field using index 0, or you can give it a name if you prefer that:

select scope_identity() as lastId

Answer 4

Thanks all who suggested SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY(). I was able to create a stored procedure:

USE [dbname]
GO 
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[spInsert]
(
   @Nn varchar(30)
)
AS
BEGIN TRANSACTION InsertRecord 
   INSERT INTO A (Nn) 
   VALUES (@Nn) 
   SELECT NewID = SCOPE_IDENTITY()   -- returns the new record ID of this transaction
   COMMIT TRANSACTION InsertRecord

and call the sproc using VB:

Dim strNn '<- var to be passed'
Set cn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection") 
connectString = "DSN" 
cn.Open connectString, "user", "PW0rd" 
Set rs = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset") 
set rs = cn.Execute("EXEC [dbname].[dbo].[A] @Nn=" & strNn)
'return the value'
resultID = rs(0)

I can now use resultID anytime I refer to the newly created ID.

Answer 5

SELECT @@IDENTITY usually works, but could return the identity of a record inserted because of a trigger or something, and not the original.

SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY is what I'd recommend. It returns values inserted only within the current scope.

There is also a "IDENT_CURRENT(tablename)" that returns the last identity inserted for a specific table.

Answer 6

There are three ways to get the the last identity in sql.

They were already mentioned by others, but for completeness:

• @@IDENTITY - can also return ids created in other objects in the same scope (think triggers)
• IDENT_CURRENT - limited to a table, but not to your scope, so it can give bad results for busy tables
• Scope_Idenity() - Limited to the scope of the request. Use this 99% of the time

Additionally, there are three ways to take that ID and return it to your client code:

• Use an output parameter in a stored procedure

  INSERT INTO [MyTable] ([col1],[col2],[col3]) VALUES (1,2,3); 
  SELECT @OutputParameterName = Scope_Identity();
  

• Use a return value.

  INSERT INTO [MyTable] ([col1],[col2],[col3]) VALUES (1,2,3); 
  Return Scope_Identity();
  

• Select the id into a result set. For example, your sql statement would look something like this:

  Dim ResultID As Integer
  Dim strSQL As String
  strSQL = "INSERT INTO [MyTable] ([col1],[col2],[col3]) VALUES (1,2,3); SELECT Scope_Identity();"
  rsResults.Open strSQL, oConn
  ResultID = rsResults("ID")
  

Unfortunately (or fortunately, from my point of view) my Classic ASP it too far gone to show examples of the first two from client code.