ident-seed-transact-sql.md

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IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)	IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)	VanMSFT	vanto	03/14/2017	sql	t-sql	reference	IDENT_SEED_TSQL IDENT_SEED	identity columns [SQL Server], IDENT_SEED function seed values [SQL Server] IDENT_SEED function	TSQL

IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance]

Returns the original seed value specified when creating an identity column in a table or a view. Changing the current value of an identity column by using DBCC CHECKIDENT doesn't change the value returned by this function.

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

IDENT_SEED ( 'table_or_view' ) 

Arguments

'table_or_view'
Is an expression that specifies the table or view to check for an identity seed 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(@@MAXPRECISION,0))

Exceptions

Returns NULL on error or if a caller doesn't have permission to view the object.

In [!INCLUDEssNoVersion], a user can only view the metadata of securables that the user either owns or is granted permission on. This security means that metadata-emitting, built-in functions such as IDENT_SEED may return NULL if the user doesn't have any permission on the object. For more information, see Metadata Visibility Configuration.

Examples

A. Returning the seed value from a specified table

The following example returns the seed value for the Person.Address table in the [!INCLUDEssSampleDBnormal] database.

USE AdventureWorks2022; GO SELECT IDENT_SEED('Person.Address') AS Identity_Seed; GO 

B. Returning the seed value from multiple tables

The following example returns the tables in the [!INCLUDEssSampleDBnormal] database with an identity column with a seed value.

USE AdventureWorks2022; GO SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA, TABLE_NAME, IDENT_SEED(TABLE_SCHEMA +'.'+ TABLE_NAME) AS IDENT_SEED FROMINFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLESWHERE IDENT_SEED(TABLE_SCHEMA +'.'+ TABLE_NAME) IS NOT NULL; GO 

Here is a partial result set.

TABLE_SCHEMA TABLE_NAME IDENT_SEED ------------ --------------------------- ----------- Person Address 1 Production ProductReview 1 Production TransactionHistory 100000 Person AddressType 1 Production ProductSubcategory 1 Person vAdditionalContactInfo 1 dbo AWBuildVersion 1 

See Also

Expressions (Transact-SQL)
System Functions (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_CURRENT (Transact-SQL)
IDENT_INCR (Transact-SQL)
DBCC CHECKIDENT (Transact-SQL)
sys.identity_columns (Transact-SQL)