Correct use of SCOPE_IDENTITY function within simple stored procedure

Question

I\'d like to simply send some information from a simple client to a log file and then use the identity created for further processing.

Is the following use of SCOP

Answer 1

RETURN SCOPE_IDENTITY() 

is returning a 0 with Dapper.
I replaced it with

SELECT SCOPE_IDENTITY()

and now it is returning the actual value.

Answer 2

Seems like this is the best approach - can see a few references advising to only use RETURN as a way of communicating state or errors so an OUTPUT parameter is better practice:

ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[LogSearch]
    @userName      VARCHAR(50),
    @dateTimeStart DATETIME,
    @searchID      INT OUTPUT
AS
BEGIN
    SET NOCOUNT ON;

    INSERT INTO [WH].[dbo].[tb_Searches]
                (
                UserName,
                DateTimeStart
                )
    VALUES  
                (
                @userName, 
                @dateTimeStart
                );

    SET @searchID = SCOPE_IDENTITY();

END;

Answer 3

You can also use SCOPE_IDENTITY in two separate statements, such as:

Assuming that the table has an identity field of course

Insert into [ABCTable]
([A], [B])
select 'WhateverA', 'WhateverB'

Then use the function SCOPE_IDENTITY() in the Where clause, like:

Update [ABCTable] Set [A] = 'UpdateA', [B] = 'UpdateB'
Where IdentityField = SCOPE_IDENTITY()

Thus, the scope_identity is a reliable link to the record just inserted.