sys.identity_columns (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW)

Contains a row for each column that is an identity column.

The sys.identity_columns view inherits rows from the sys.columns view. The sys.identity_columns view returns the columns in the sys.columns view, plus the seed_value, increment_value, last_value, and is_not_for_replication columns. For more information, see Catalog Views (Transact-SQL).

Column name	Data type	Description
<columns inherited from sys.columns>		The sys.identity_columns view returns all columns in the sys.columns view. It also returns the additional columns described below. For a description of the columns that the sys.identity_columns view inherits from sys.columns, see sys.columns (Transact-SQL).
seed_value	sql_variant	Seed value for this identity column. The data type of the seed value is the same as the data type of the column itself.
increment_value	sql_variant	Increment value for this identity column. The data type of the seed value is the same as the data type of the column itself.
last_value	sql_variant	Last value generated for this identity column. The data type of the seed value is the same as the data type of the column itself.
is_not_for_replication	bit	Identity column is declared NOT FOR REPLICATION. Note: This column does not apply to Azure Synapse Analytics.

Note

To create an automatically incrementing number that can be used in multiple tables or that can be called from applications without referencing any table, see Sequence Numbers.

Permissions

The visibility of the metadata in catalog views is limited to securables that a user either owns, or on which the user was granted some permission. For more information, see Metadata Visibility Configuration.

See Also

Object Catalog Views (Transact-SQL)
Catalog Views (Transact-SQL)
Querying the SQL Server System Catalog FAQ