Best way to get identity of inserted row?

Question

What is the best way to get identity of inserted row?

I know about @@IDENTITY and IDENT_CURRENT and SCOPE_IDENTITY but don't understand the pros and cons attached to each.

Can someone please explain the differences and when I should be using each?

Answer 1

MSDN

@@IDENTITY, SCOPE_IDENTITY, and IDENT_CURRENT are similar functions in that they return the last value inserted into the IDENTITY column of a table.

@@IDENTITY and SCOPE_IDENTITY will return the last identity value generated in any table in the current session. However, SCOPE_IDENTITY returns the value only within the current scope; @@IDENTITY is not limited to a specific scope.

IDENT_CURRENT is not limited by scope and session; it is limited to a specified table. IDENT_CURRENT returns the identity value generated for a specific table in any session and any scope. For more information, see IDENT_CURRENT.

• IDENT_CURRENT is a function which takes a table as a argument.
• @@IDENTITY may return confusing result when you have an trigger on the table
• SCOPE_IDENTITY is your hero most of the time.

Answer 2

• @@IDENTITY returns the last identity value generated for any table in the current session, across all scopes. You need to be careful here, since it's across scopes. You could get a value from a trigger, instead of your current statement.
• SCOPE_IDENTITY returns the last identity value generated for any table in the current session and the current scope. Generally what you want to use.
• IDENT_CURRENT returns the last identity value generated for a specific table in any session and any scope. This lets you specify which table you want the value from, in case the two above aren't quite what you need (very rare). Also, as @Guy Starbuck mentioned, "You could use this if you want to get the current IDENTITY value for a table that you have not inserted a record into."

Answer 3

@@IDENTITY is the last identity inserted using the current SQL Connection. This is a good value to return from an insert stored procedure, where you just need the identity inserted for your new record, and don't care if more rows were added afterward.

SCOPE_IDENTITY is the last identity inserted using the current SQL Connection, and in the current scope -- that is, if there was a second IDENTITY inserted based on a trigger after your insert, it would not be reflected in SCOPE_IDENTITY, only the insert you performed. Frankly, I have never had a reason to use this.

IDENT_CURRENT(tablename) is the last identity inserted regardless of connection or scope. You could use this if you want to get the current IDENTITY value for a table that you have not inserted a record into.

Answer 4

I'm saying the same thing as the other guys, so everyone's correct, I'm just trying to make it more clear.

@@IDENTITY returns the id of the last thing that was inserted by your client's connection to the database.
Most of the time this works fine, but sometimes a trigger will go and insert a new row that you don't know about, and you'll get the ID from this new row, instead of the one you want

SCOPE_IDENTITY() solves this problem. It returns the id of the last thing that you inserted in the SQL code you sent to the database. If triggers go and create extra rows, they won't cause the wrong value to get returned. Hooray

IDENT_CURRENT returns the last ID that was inserted by anyone. If some other app happens to insert another row at an unforunate time, you'll get the ID of that row instead of your one.

If you want to play it safe, always use SCOPE_IDENTITY(). If you stick with @@IDENTITY and someone decides to add a trigger later on, all your code will break.

Answer 5

ALWAYS use scope_identity(), there's NEVER a need for anything else.