IDENT_SEED (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: 👁 Image
SQL Server 👁 Image
Azure SQL Database 👁 Image
Azure SQL Managed Instance 👁 Image
SQL database in Microsoft Fabric

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
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 SQL Server, 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 AdventureWorks2025 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 AdventureWorks2025 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 
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)