>Then how is the nnid returned to the user?

@nnid is a variable. You have three choices for returning it from a stored procedure:

1 - as a recordset

SELECT @nnid

2 - in an output parameter

CREATE PROCEDURE nextid
@token varchar(10), @nnid integer OUTPUT

3 - As a return value

RETURN @nnid

(not recommended. By convention, the return value of a stored procedure is used to indicate status)

-Mike