I have a database table that has a lot of data already in the table and I need to add a new column to this table to include a new sequential number. In addition to adding the column I also need to populate the existing records with an incremental counter what options are there to do this?
2022-03-11
SQL Server identity columns are easy to add to a table, but you must understand how they work to use them effectively. In this article, Greg Larsen explains the nuances of SQL Server identity columns.
2021-10-22
In this tip we look at the Sequence Number feature in SQL Server and compare it to the use of identity columns.
2021-05-10
There are a number of ways to generate key values in SQL Server tables including the IDENTITY column property, the NEWID() function and more recently, SEQUENCES. The IDENTITY column property is the earliest of these methods. It was introduced very early in the history of SQL Server and it is arguably the simplest approach. Though old, IDENTITY is still maintained in modern versions of SQL Server and is still relevant for simple use cases.
2020-05-21
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I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
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