>>>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.
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>>I see that your key is 20 chars. Try using SYSDATETIME(). There are 7 digits after the decimal point (GetDate() only has 3)
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Hey Nicholas,

Considering the constraints you are operating under using GETDATE(), I am assuming you can remove extraneous characters from the string using only the digits to form the key ( 20 chars ).

This is not foolproof, but if other options do not work out, you could try forming the key from the GETDATE() function, then executing a query on the resulting key string to determine the existence of the resulting key. If it exists, create a short string ( 1-3 chars ) using a randomizer, append these chars and re-try the query. If found, try again, etc. If not found, attempt your INSERT and trap any resulting constraint error so another attempt can be made.

As I mentioned this is not foolproof ( a redesign would be better ) but you may be able to experiment with this approach for the specific conditions under which you are operating to get a working solution.

Bill