Cannot update identity column 'RowID' in synapse sql

Question

Hi,

Iam trying to pull data from staging to main table using merge statement along with identity column in main table.

facing the error in synapse dedicated sql pool, Cannot update identity column 'RowID'.

the same is working in azure sql database. but not in azure sql dw.

create table test1(RowID int identity(1,1), [Name] nvarchar(255) ,ID nvarchar(255) )
with (distribution = hash([Name]))

create table test2([Name] nvarchar(255),ID nvarchar(255))
 
merge into test1 as target
using test2 as source
on target.ID = source.ID

when not matched by target then
insert ([Name],[ID]) values (source.Name,source.ID)

when matched then
update set
target.[Name] = source.[Name]
when not matched by source then
delete;

Answer 1

Hello @Sambasiva ,

Welcome to the MS Q&A platform.

MERGE in Synapse will not work on tables with Identity columns. This is a known restriction of MERGE in the Synapse.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/statements/merge-transact-sql?view=azure-sqldw-latest&preserve-view=true#remarks

I see the below feedback request in the synapse discussion forum. I would suggest upvoting & comment on this feedback URL. This allows product teams to prioritize your idea against our existing feature backlog effectively and gives insight into the potential impact of implementing the suggested feature.

https://feedback.azure.com/d365community/idea/268c0c91-0a25-ec11-b6e6-000d3a4f07b8

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

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