SQL Server FAQ - PHP MSSQL - Creating an Identity Column

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By: FYIcenter.com

PHP MSSQL - How To Create an Identity Column?

Many tables require an ID column to assign a unique ID number for each row in the table. For example, if you have a table to hold forum member profiles, you need an ID number to identify each member. To allow SQL Server to automatically assign a new ID number for each new record, you can define the ID column with IDENTITY attribute as shown in the following sample script:

<?php
  $con = mssql_connect('LOCALHOST','sa','FYIcenter');
  mssql_select_db('FyiCenterData', $con);

  $sql = "CREATE TABLE fyi_users ("
      . " id INTEGER IDENTITY NOT NULL" 
      . ", name VARCHAR(80) NOT NULL"
      . ", email VARCHAR(80) NULL"
      . ", time DATETIME NULL"
      . ")";
  $res = mssql_query($sql, $con);
  if (!$res) {
    print("Table creation failed with error:\n");
    print("   ".mssql_get_last_message()."\n");
  } else {
    print("Table fyi_users created.\n");
  }

  mssql_close($con); 
?>

If you run this script, a new table will be created with ID column defined as an identity column. It value will be auto-assigned each time a new record is inserted with an auto-incremented number. The sample script below inserts two records with ID values assigned by SQL Server:

<?php
  $con = mssql_connect('LOCALHOST','sa','FYIcenter');
  mssql_select_db('FyiCenterData', $con);

  $sql = "INSERT INTO fyi_users (name)"
     . " VALUES ('John King')";
  $res = mssql_query($sql, $con);

  $sql = "INSERT INTO fyi_users (name)"
     . " VALUES ('Nancy Greenberg')";
  $res = mssql_query($sql, $con);

  $sql = "SELECT id, name, time FROM fyi_users";
  $res = mssql_query($sql, $con);
  while ($row = mssql_fetch_array($res)) {
    print($row['id'].", ".$row['name'].", "
    . $row['time']."\n");
  }  
  mssql_free_result($res);

  mssql_close($con); 
?>

If you run this script, you will get something like this:

1, John King,
2, Nancy Greenberg,