You can also insert explicit values into an IDENTITY column by using SET IDENTITY_INSERT ON.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188059.aspx

Okay, not sure if this is of any interest or any use to anyone at this point, but here is basically what I ended up doing:

IF object_id('tempdb..#Existing') IS NOT NULL

DROP...

I am a huge fan of CTE's as well. I guess different structures are inherently more intuitive to different people. Perhaps with enough experience that will change and I will...

What a fantastic explanation! Thank you so much for taking the time!

Ohhhhhh! Okay, thank you. The indentation makes a massive difference in getting my head around it.

Now that that part of it is solved, I guess I just need to...

Sorry, guilty as charged. Was trying to limit the code to only the relevant bit. Is this better?

SELECT blablabla

FROM

T1

FULL OUTER JOIN T2

FULL OUTER JOIN T3

INNER JOIN...

I should probably just delete this thread since I got it off on the wrong foot by omitting DDL. Sorry again.

I think I'm going to re-post it next week...

Thanks for the reply! The problem is we still need the "other columns". Again, it's my bad for not getting the DDL together for this one first. I will try...

For what it's worth, I've noticed that in scripts where I first drop a table and then create it, I have to include the "GO" command after the initial DROP...

I understand. I will try to come up with some good sample DDL. Thanks nonetheless for your efforts.

What are Col1, Col2, Col3, Col4, Col5, Col6, Col7, Col8? I don't mean the data types, but what are they? Are any of these columns a unique or primary key...

Sorry Lynn, I wasn't sure DDL was necessary in this case.

Yes, we are importing data from an external source into Scratch, scrubbing it for dupes again Live, and then...

SQL2K5. 🙁

Thanks, looks like QU is still a winner even in 2012. 🙂

Has anyone done any significant testing of the Quirky Update method in SQL Server 2008, 2012, or 2014? Does it work in those versions too?

It's easy enough to test...