SQLServer SQL query with a row counter

Question

I have a SQL query, that returns a set of rows:

SELECT id, name FROM users where group = 2

I need to also include a column that has an incremen

Answer 1

The simplest way is to use a variable row counter. However it would be two actual SQL commands. One to set the variable, and then the query as follows:

SET @n=0;
SELECT @n:=@n+1, a.* FROM tablename a

Your query can be as complex as you like with joins etc. I usually make this a stored procedure. You can have all kinds of fun with the variable, even use it to calculate against field values. The key is the :=