The IDENTITY function can only be used when the SELECT statement has an INTO clause.

Error Message:
Msg 177, Level 15, State 1, Line 1
The IDENTITY function can only be used when the SELECT statement has an INTO clause.

Severity level:
15.

Description:
This error message appears when you try to use the IDENTITY function without the scope of a SELECT INTO statement

Consequences:
The SQL statement cannot be parsed and further execution is stopped.

Resolution:
Error of the Severity level 15 are generated by the user and can be fixed by the SQL Server user. The IDENTITY function can only be used in a SELECT INTO statement.

Versions:
All versions of SQL Server.

Example(s):
SELECT IDENTITY(INT, 1, 1) AS seq, *
  FROM Northwind.dbo.Orders
 WHERE CustomerID LIKE ‘B%’

Remarks:
In the above example we try to use the IDENTITY function in a SELECT statement without INTO clause. This raises the error.

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