SQL Function to return sequential id's - sql-server

Question

Consider this simple INSERT
INSERT INTO Assignment (CustomerId,UserId)
SELECT CustomerId,123 FROM Customers
That will obviously assign UserId=123 to all customers.
What I need to do is assign them to 3 userId's sequentially, so 3 users get one third of the accounts equally.
INSERT INTO Assignment (CustomerId,UserId)
SELECT CustomerId,fnGetNextId() FROM Customers
Could I create a function to return sequentially from a list of 3 ID's?, i.e. each time the function is called it returns the next one in the list?
Thanks

Answer 1

Could I create a function to return sequentially from a list of 3 ID's?,
If you create a SEQUENCE, then you can assign incremental numbers with the NEXT VALUE FOR (Transact-SQL) expression.

Answer 2

This is a strange requirement, but the modulus operator (%) should help you out without the need for functions, sequences, or altering your database structure. This assumes that the IDs are integers. If they're not, you can use ROW_NUMBER or a number of other tactics to get a distinct number value for each customer.
Obviously, you would replace the SELECT statement with an INSERT once you're satisfied with the code, but it's good practice to always select when developing before inserting.
SETUP WITH SAMPLE DATA:
DECLARE #Users TABLE (ID int, [Name] varchar(50))
DECLARE #Customers TABLE (ID int, [Name] varchar(50))
DECLARE #Assignment TABLE (CustomerID int, UserID int)
INSERT INTO #Customers
VALUES
(1, 'Joe'),
(2, 'Jane'),
(3, 'Jon'),
(4, 'Jake'),
(5, 'Jerry'),
(6, 'Jesus')
INSERT INTO #Users
VALUES
(1, 'Ted'),
(2, 'Ned'),
(3, 'Fred')
QUERY:
SELECT C.Name AS [CustomerName], U.Name AS [UserName]
FROM #Customers C
JOIN #Users U
ON
CASE WHEN C.ID % 3 = 0 THEN 1
WHEN C.ID % 3 = 1 THEN 2
WHEN C.ID % 3 = 2 THEN 3
END = U.ID
You would change the THEN 1 to whatever your first UserID is, THEN 2 with the second UserID, and THEN 3 with the third UserID. If you end up with another user and want to split the customers 4 ways, you would do replace the CASE statement with the following:
CASE WHEN C.ID % 4 = 0 THEN 1
WHEN C.ID % 4 = 1 THEN 2
WHEN C.ID % 4 = 2 THEN 3
WHEN C.ID % 4 = 3 THEN 4
END = U.ID
OUTPUT:
CustomerName UserName
-------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Joe Ned
Jane Fred
Jon Ted
Jake Ned
Jerry Fred
Jesus Ted
(6 row(s) affected)
Lastly, you will want to select the IDs for your actual insert, but I selected the names so the results are easier to understand. Please let me know if this needs clarification.

Answer 3

Here's one way to produce Assignment as an automatically rebalancing view:
CREATE VIEW dbo.Assignment WITH SCHEMABINDING AS
WITH SeqUsers AS (
SELECT UserID, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY UserID) - 1 AS _ord
FROM dbo.Users
), SeqCustomers AS (
SELECT CustomerID, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY CustomerID) - 1 AS _ord
FROM dbo.Customers
)
-- INSERT Assignment(CustomerID, UserID)
SELECT SeqCustomers.CustomerID, SeqUsers.UserID
FROM SeqUsers
JOIN SeqCustomers ON SeqUsers._ord = SeqCustomers._ord % (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM SeqUsers)
;
This shifts assignments around if you insert a new user, which could be quite undesirable, and it's also not efficient if you had to JOIN on it. You can easily repurpose the query it contains for one-time inserts (the commented-out INSERT). The key technique there is joining on ROW_NUMBER()s.