Removing identity column

We can easily remove identity columnn through enterprise manager but how can it be done through transact sql?

The only way i found is to create a new column and pass values if identity column in it and then remove this identity column is there any better method of doing it?

Open up the Northwind DB an select identity NO for the OrderID

The script that Enterprise Manager creates is this (Click on the 3rd Icon from the left, left side of the scissors)

BEGIN TRANSACTION
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL SERIALIZABLE
SET ARITHABORT ON
SET NUMERIC_ROUNDABORT OFF
SET CONCAT_NULL_YIELDS_NULL ON
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
SET ANSI_PADDING ON
SET ANSI_WARNINGS ON
COMMIT
BEGIN TRANSACTION
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_Orders_Shippers
GO
COMMIT
BEGIN TRANSACTION
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_Orders_Employees
GO
COMMIT
BEGIN TRANSACTION
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_Orders_Customers
GO
COMMIT
BEGIN TRANSACTION
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders
DROP CONSTRAINT DF_Orders_Freight
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.Tmp_Orders
(
OrderID int NOT NULL,
CustomerID nchar(5) NULL,
EmployeeID int NULL,
OrderDate datetime NULL,
RequiredDate datetime NULL,
ShippedDate datetime NULL,
ShipVia int NULL,
Freight money NULL,
ShipName nvarchar(40) NULL,
ShipAddress nvarchar(60) NULL,
ShipCity nvarchar(15) NULL,
ShipRegion nvarchar(15) NULL,
ShipPostalCode nvarchar(10) NULL,
ShipCountry nvarchar(15) NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
ALTER TABLE dbo.Tmp_Orders ADD CONSTRAINT
DF_Orders_Freight DEFAULT (0) FOR Freight
GO
IF EXISTS(SELECT * FROM dbo.Orders)
EXEC('INSERT INTO dbo.Tmp_Orders (OrderID, CustomerID, EmployeeID, OrderDate, RequiredDate, ShippedDate, ShipVia, Freight, ShipName, ShipAddress, ShipCity, ShipRegion, ShipPostalCode, ShipCountry)
SELECT OrderID, CustomerID, EmployeeID, OrderDate, RequiredDate, ShippedDate, ShipVia, Freight, ShipName, ShipAddress, ShipCity, ShipRegion, ShipPostalCode, ShipCountry FROM dbo.Orders TABLOCKX')
GO
ALTER TABLE dbo.[Order Details]
DROP CONSTRAINT FK_Order_Details_Orders
GO
DROP TABLE dbo.Orders
GO
EXECUTE sp_rename N'dbo.Tmp_Orders', N'Orders', 'OBJECT'
GO
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders ADD CONSTRAINT
PK_Orders PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
OrderID
) ON [PRIMARY]

GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX CustomerID ON dbo.Orders
(
CustomerID
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX CustomersOrders ON dbo.Orders
(
CustomerID
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX EmployeeID ON dbo.Orders
(
EmployeeID
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX EmployeesOrders ON dbo.Orders
(
EmployeeID
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX OrderDate ON dbo.Orders
(
OrderDate
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX ShippedDate ON dbo.Orders
(
ShippedDate
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX ShippersOrders ON dbo.Orders
(
ShipVia
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
CREATE NONCLUSTERED INDEX ShipPostalCode ON dbo.Orders
(
ShipPostalCode
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders WITH NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT
FK_Orders_Customers FOREIGN KEY
(
CustomerID
) REFERENCES dbo.Customers
(
CustomerID
)
GO
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders WITH NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT
FK_Orders_Employees FOREIGN KEY
(
EmployeeID
) REFERENCES dbo.Employees
(
EmployeeID
)
GO
ALTER TABLE dbo.Orders WITH NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT
FK_Orders_Shippers FOREIGN KEY
(
ShipVia
) REFERENCES dbo.Shippers
(
ShipperID
)
GO
GRANT REFERENCES ON dbo.Orders TO public AS dbo
GRANT SELECT ON dbo.Orders TO public AS dbo
GRANT UPDATE ON dbo.Orders TO public AS dbo
GRANT INSERT ON dbo.Orders TO public AS dbo
GRANT DELETE ON dbo.Orders TO public AS dbo
COMMIT
BEGIN TRANSACTION
ALTER TABLE dbo.[Order Details] WITH NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT
FK_Order_Details_Orders FOREIGN KEY
(
OrderID
) REFERENCES dbo.Orders
(
OrderID
)
GO
COMMIT

so as you can see there is a lot that has to be done behind the scenes

Denis the SQL Menace

http://sqlservercode.blogspot.com/