I agree with the testicular remedy, but in the case of the iron codpiece, I can think of another approach which may work for you. It still uses Select, but reads a one-row table, so it shouldn't hurt performance much. The table serves no other purpose than storing the next available PK; call the table NextPK, say. The algorithm might go like this:
1. Lock the table NextPK. 2. Select its value. 3. Update the column with current value + 1. 4. Unlock the table. 5. Do your inserts. The lock will be very brief, perhaps brief enough to satisfy your requirement. -- Arthur Cell: 647.710.1314 Only two businesses refer to their clientele as users: drug dealing and software development. -- Arthur Fuller
