How to resolve a null Scope_Indentity on cascaded insert? - sql-server

Question

I'm performing a cascading insert in a SQL Server stored procedure. Then I pass the SCOPE_IDENTITY from the ID of the first table insert to the second table.
But during executing the stored procedure I get a NULL value for the SCOPE_IDENTITY:
Msg 515, Level 16, State 2, Procedure InsertDDM_UserProfile, Line 43
Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'Filter', table '.....dbo.DDM_Dashboard'; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails.
Question: why does the stored procedure return a null ID using SCOPE_IDENTITY?
This is the stored procedure I've drafted. FK constraints have already been set up for the tables:
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[InsertDDM_UserProfile]
#p_email VARCHAR(100),
#p_dashboardName VARCHAR(100),
AS
BEGIN
INSERT INTO [dbo].[DDM_User] ([Email])
VALUES (#p_email)
INSERT INTO [dbo].[DDM_Dashboard] ([Dashboard_Name], [DDM_USER_ID])
VALUES (#p_dashboardName, SCOPE_IDENTITY())
END
And below are the two table's structure:
DDM_User-
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[DDM_User]
(
[ID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[Email] [varchar](80) NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT [PK_DDMUser]
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([ID] ASC)
WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF,
IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON,
ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
DDM_Dashboard:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[DDM_Dashboard]
(
[ID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[Dashboard_Name] [varchar](100) NOT NULL,
[DDM_USER_ID] [int] NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT [PK_DDMDashboard]
PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ([ID] ASC)
WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF,
IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON,
ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[DDM_Dashboard] WITH NOCHECK
ADD CONSTRAINT [FK_DDMDashboard_DDMUser]
FOREIGN KEY([DDM_USER_ID]) REFERENCES [dbo].[DDM_User] ([ID])
GO
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[DDM_Dashboard] CHECK CONSTRAINT [FK_DDMDashboard_DDMUser]
GO

Answer 1

This is nothing to do with SCOPE_IDENTITY(), during your second insert:
INSERT INTO [dbo].[DDM_Dashboard] ([Dashboard_Name], [DDM_USER_ID])
VALUES (#p_dashboardName, SCOPE_IDENTITY())
You are only inserting into two columns [Dashboard_Name], and [DDM_USER_ID]. You do not specify a value for the column [Filter], which from your error message does not allow null values, therefore your insert fails.

Answer 2

DECLARE #Value1 varchar(50) = 'Test1', #Value2 varchar(50) = 'Test2';
DECLARE #Table1 table (Id int NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1), Value varchar(50) NOT NULL);
DECLARE #Table2 table (Id int NOT NULL, Value varchar(50) NOT NULL);
INSERT INTO #Table1 (Value1)
OUTPUT inserted.Id, #Value2 INTO #Table2 (Id, Value)
Values (#Value1)
;
SELECT * FROM #Table1;
SELECT * FROM #Table1;
edit:
As GarethD pointed out, this is not actually a valid solution to your problem due to the foreign key constraint. However in other scenarios this is a useful way to handle cascading inserts and updates as it is an atomic operation of both records.