SQL Dialects Reference/Data structure definition/Auto-increment column

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A short hint: In most cases auto-increment columns are used as Primary Key columns. In the SQL standard the junction of the two concepts is not mandatory.

SQL Standard[edit | edit source]

The SQL standard defines two ways to generate auto-increment values. First, there are identity columns as an extension to exact numeric types. The syntax is: "GENERATED { ALWAYS | BY DEFAULT } AS IDENTITY". Second, the use of sequences in combination with triggers is standardized.

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 DECIMAL GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY);

DB2[edit | edit source]

Identity columns or sequences combined with triggers (comparison of both techniques).

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INT GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY);

--  or:

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INT);
CREATE SEQUENCE sequence_name;
CREATE TRIGGER insert_trigger
       NO CASCADE BEFORE INSERT ON t1
       REFERENCING NEW AS n
       FOR EACH ROW
  SET n.col1 = NEXTVAL FOR sequence_name;

Firebird[edit | edit source]

Is recommended to use sequences combined with triggers . From 3.0 there is Identity support.

SET TERM  ^;
CREATE TABLE t1(col1 INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY)^
CREATE SEQUENCE sequence_name^
ALTER  SEQUENCE sequence_name RESTART WITH 0^

CREATE TRIGGER trigger_name FOR t1
BEFORE INSERT
AS
BEGIN
  NEW.col1 = NEXT VALUE FOR sequence_name;
END^

Linter[edit | edit source]

AUTOINC columns (maybe with RANGEs) or sequences combined with triggers.

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 SMALLINT AUTOINC);
CREATE TABLE t2 (col1 INTEGER AUTOINC);
CREATE TABLE t3 (col1 BIGINT AUTOINC);

MonetDB[edit | edit source]

CREATE SEQUENCE sequence_name AS INT START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1;
CREATE TABLE t1 (
  col1 BIGINT PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT NEXT VALUE FOR sequence_name,
  col2 BIGINT AUTO_INCREMENT, 
  col3 BIGINT GENERATED ALWAYS AS IDENTITY (
           START WITH 100 INCREMENT BY 2
           NO MINVALUE MAXVALUE 1000
           CACHE 2 CYCLE)
);
CREATE TABLE ts (
  col1 SERIAL,  /* implies: INTEGER NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT NEXT VALUE FOR "sch"."seq_12345" */
  ...
);
CREATE TABLE tbs (
  col1 BIGSERIAL,  /* implies: BIGINT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT NEXT VALUE FOR "sch"."seq_23456" */
  ...
);

MSSQL[edit | edit source]

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INT IDENTITY(1,1));

MySQL[edit | edit source]

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT);

OpenLink Virtuoso[edit | edit source]

IDENTITY (start with 1, increment by 1);
CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INTEGER IDENTITY);

-- or:

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INTEGER IDENTITY (start with 1));

Oracle[edit | edit source]

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 NUMBER PRIMARY KEY);
CREATE SEQUENCE sequence_name START WITH 1 INCREMENT BY 1;
CREATE OR REPLACE TRIGGER trigger_name BEFORE INSERT ON t1 FOR EACH ROW
DECLARE
  max_id NUMBER;
  cur_seq NUMBER;
BEGIN
IF :NEW.col1 IS NULL THEN
  -- normal assignment of the next value in the sequence
  :NEW.col1 := sequence_name.NEXTVAL;
ELSE
  -- or allow the user to specify the value, so must advance the sequence to match
  SELECT GREATEST(COALESCE(MAX(col1), 0), :NEW.col1) INTO max_id FROM t1;
  WHILE cur_seq < max_id LOOP
    SELECT sequence_name.NEXTVAL INTO cur_seq FROM DUAL;
  END LOOP;
END IF;
END;

-- since Oracle 12.1:
CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 NUMBER GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY);

PostgreSQL[edit | edit source]

create table t1 (col1 serial primary key);

-- since postgres 10:
create table t1 (col1 integer generated by default as identity primary key);

SQLite[edit | edit source]

Both create an autoincrementing column; the AUTOINCREMENT keyword only prevents reusing deleted values.

CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INTEGER PRIMARY KEY);
CREATE TABLE t1 (col1 INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT);