Great article, thanks for tipping us to these new functions.

Sequential numbers. Sooner or later, you'll find a process that requires you to generate a series of sequential numbers. As a matter of fact, most database engines provide at least one method of producing such numbers. Microsoft Access, for example, has AutoNumber columns, while SQL Server has IDENTITY columns. However, these are features of tables. There are times when you need some sequential numbers, but creating a table is inconvenient or inefficient. So how does one proceed? How does one obtain a list of sequential numbers without creating tables?