SQL: Auto Increment value during insert - sql-server-2008

Question

I have the an existing table that for some reason the designer decided to manually control the Primary Key value by storing the last used value in a seperate table (changing the table to use Identity is not an option right now).
I now need to do a mass update to this table as follows:
DECLARE #NeedFieldID int
SET #NeedFieldID = 62034
INSERT INTO T_L_NeedField (NeedID, NeedFieldID, FieldName, Sequence, DisplayAs, FieldPrompt, DataType, ValidOptions, IsRequiredForSale)
(
SELECT
DISTINCT n.NeedID,
#NeedFieldID + 1,
'DetailedOutcome',
999,
'Detailed Outcome',
'Select appropriate reason for a No Sale outcome',
'T',
'Pricing, Appointment Date / Time Not Available, Will Call Back, Declined',
0
FROM T_L_Need n
INNER JOIN T_L_NeedField nf
ON n.NeedID = nf.NeedID
WHERE (n.Need LIKE 'Schedule%' AND n.Disabled = 0)
)
Obviously '#NeedFieldID + 1' doesn't work (just using it to show what I want to do). How can I increment #NeedFieldID as SQL inserts the values for each of the distinct NeedId's? I am using SQL Server 2008.

Answer 1

You want row_number():
DECLARE #NeedFieldID int
SET #NeedFieldID = 62034
INSERT INTO T_L_NeedField (NeedID, NeedFieldID, FieldName, Sequence, DisplayAs, FieldPrompt, DataType, ValidOptions, IsRequiredForSale)
(
SELECT
DISTINCT n.NeedID,
#NeedFieldID + row_number() over (order by n.NeedID),
'DetailedOutcome',
999,
'Detailed Outcome',
'Select appropriate reason for a No Sale outcome',
'T',
'Pricing, Appointment Date / Time Not Available, Will Call Back, Declined',
0
FROM T_L_Need n
INNER JOIN T_L_NeedField nf
ON n.NeedID = nf.NeedID
WHERE (n.Need LIKE 'Schedule%' AND n.Disabled = 0)
)
However, your best bet is to make NeedFieldID an identity column and just let SQL Server do the work for you.