ident-seed-transact-sql.md

title	IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	03/14/2017
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f1_keywords	IDENT_SEED_TSQL IDENT_SEED
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IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2008-asdb-xxxx-xxx_md]

Returns the original seed value (returned as numeric(**@@**MAXPRECISION,0)) that was specified when an identity column in a table or a view was created. Changing the current value of an identity column by using DBCC CHECKIDENT does not change the value returned by this function.

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 a 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

Exceptions

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

In [!INCLUDEssNoVersion], 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_SEED 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 seed value from a specified table

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

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
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 that include an identity column with a seed value.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA, TABLE_NAME,   
   IDENT_SEED(TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME) AS IDENT_SEED  
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES  
WHERE 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)