>>>>Hi
>>>>
>>>>I'm dealing with a system that in one area uses keys generated keys using GETDATE().
>>>>
>>>>This is producing duplicates sometimes.
>>>>
>>>>If I select GETDATE() in a loop it returns the same datetime through a lot of iterations . How often is the date and time refreshed and what sort of delay would I need to introduce to ensure I got a new date and time on each key generation.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Thanks
>>>
>>>Think the precision is one millisecond
>>>
>>>Don't think a datetime is a good idea for a key.
>>>
>>>Can you use a guid type field and use newsequentialid() ) to obtain a new key ?
>>
>>Hi Gregory
>>
>>its not my data. I'm loading data into a table thats normally populated by a different system and I'm emulating what that other system does to build a key.
>
>
>I see that your key is 20 chars. Try using SYSDATETIME(). There are 7 digits after the decimal point (GetDate() only has 3)
>
>eg
>TWEB_AUTO.....
>would become
>TWEB_
>and you have room for the extra 4 digits

Thank Gregory I'll check that out