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I usually create the samples and test cases on tempdb database. Today, I came a across an issue while working on Sequence object, a new database feature shipped with SQL Server 2012. I tried to use Sequence object from some other database in tempdb database and it gave me given below error message.

Let’s discuss this in detail:

Message Number: 11730

Severity : 16

Error Message: Database name cannot be specified for the sequence object in default constraints.

Error Generation:

In the given below script, I tried to make sequence object (resides in another database (Adventureworks2012)) as a default value of a column in a table. This table resides in tempdb database. Let me create a sample to demonstrate the issue.

--This script is compatible with SQL Server 2012 and above
--Create a sequence object in AdventureWorks2012 database.
USE [AdventureWorks2012]
GO
CREATE SEQUENCE [dbo].[Seq_sample]
AS [int]
START WITH 1
INCREMENT BY 1
GO

USE tempdb
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.tbl_sample
(
[ID] int,
[Name] varchar(100)
)
GO

ALTER TABLE dbo.tbl_sample
ADD CONSTRAINT Const_tbl_sample DEFAULT
(NEXT VALUE FOR AdventureWorks2012.[dbo].[Seq_Sample])
FOR [ID];
GO
--OUTPUT

Msg 11730, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Database name cannot be specified for the sequence object in default constraints.

Ooopps…… I am unable to make a sequence as a default value in a table if Sequence already resides in another database.

Resolution:
This is the limitiation of a sequence object, that you cannot make any sequence as a default value of a column if it resides in any other database. But there is a way around that you can use to achieve it. So, how can we do it ? You cannot make it as a default but you can still access the sequence even if it is outside your database boundary, using three part name (AdventureWorks2012.[dbo].[Seq_Sample]
). So, using this three part name, you can insert the sequence value in any database. Given below is the sample.

USE tempdb
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.tbl_sample
(
[ID] int,
[Name] varchar(100)
)
GO
INSERT INTO tbl_sample
VALUES (NEXT VALUE FOR AdventureWorks2012.[dbo].[Seq_Sample],'raresql')
GO