'How to Use Sequence Values ' for information on using sequencesĪLTER SEQUENCE or DROP SEQUENCE for information on modifying or dropping a sequence Once a sequence is created, you can access its values in SQL statements with the CURRVAL pseudocolumn, which returns the current value of the sequence, or the NEXTVAL pseudocolumn, which increments the sequence and returns the new value.Ĭhapter 3, ' Pseudocolumns' for more information on using the CURRVAL and NEXTVAL Additionally, a single user may not realize that other users are drawing from the same sequence. It is possible that individual sequence numbers will appear to be skipped, because they were generated and used in a transaction that ultimately rolled back. Sequence numbers are generated independently of tables, so the same sequence can be used for one or for multiple tables. Once a sequence value is generated by one user, that user can continue to access that value regardless of whether the sequence is incremented by another user. One user can never acquire the sequence number generated by another user.

If two users concurrently increment the same sequence, then the sequence numbers each user acquires may have gaps, because sequence numbers are being generated by the other user.

When a sequence number is generated, the sequence is incremented, independent of the transaction committing or rolling back. You can use sequences to automatically generate primary key values. Use the CREATE SEQUENCE statement to create a sequence, which is a database object from which multiple users may generate unique integers.

Create a sequence in mediacentral