You don't really need the function, you can do what you want like this:create table #test (vcField varchar(10), intField int)INSERT #test values ('H3Bt', 5100)INSERT #test values ('H3Cr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('H4Bt', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS1Ar', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS1Cr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS2Air', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS2Ar', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS2Br', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS2Cr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS3Ai', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS3Bi', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS3Bit', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS3Cr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS4Am', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS4Bi', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS4Bm', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS4Bt', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS4Ct', 5100)INSERT #test values ('HS4Dr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('NFrd', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Ap', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Ar', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Ax', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Bp', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Br', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Bw', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S2Bx', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S3Ap', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S3Aw', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S3Ax', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S3Bw', 5100)INSERT #test values ('S3Bx', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH1Api', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH1Br', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH1Cr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Air', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Ap', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Ar', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Ax', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Bir', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Bix', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Bp', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Br', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH2Bw', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH3Ai', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH3Ap', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH3Api', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH3Bw', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH3Cr', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH3Di', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH4Bm', 5100)INSERT #test values ('SH4Bwi', 5100)select vcField, (select count(*) from #test T1 where T1.vcField < T.vcField) + 5101from #test TResult:vcField ---------- ----------- H3Bt 5101H3Cr 5102H4Bt 5103HS1Ar 5104HS1Cr 5105HS2Air 5106HS2Ar 5107HS2Br 5108HS2Cr 5109HS3Ai 5110HS3Bi 5111HS3Bit 5112HS3Cr 5113HS4Am 5114HS4Bi 5115HS4Bm 5116HS4Bt 5117HS4Ct 5118HS4Dr 5119NFrd 5120S2Ap 5121S2Ar 5122S2Ax 5123S2Bp 5124S2Br 5125S2Bw 5126S2Bx 5127S3Ap 5128S3Aw 5129S3Ax 5130S3Bw 5131S3Bx 5132SH1Api 5133SH1Br 5134SH1Cr 5135SH2Air 5136SH2Ap 5137SH2Ar 5138SH2Ax 5139SH2Bir 5140SH2Bix 5141SH2Bp 5142SH2Br 5143SH2Bw 5144SH3Ai 5145SH3Ap 5146SH3Api 5147SH3Bw 5148SH3Cr 5149SH3Di 5150SH4Bm 5151SH4Bwi 5152(52 row(s) affected)