Best Way To Exclusively Locking A Table

Hi

Is a TABLOCK HOLDLOCK in a transaction the best way for locking a table for a brief period of time?

We need to get generate a unique serial number each time a certificate record is printed. We have in place a field called Field_SERIAL_NUMBER for each certificate record, which may be printed 1 time or 100 times. Each time it prints, we will insert a unique number into the Field_SERIAL_NUMBER field.

This is what I'm thinking to approach this.
- Create a new table called Table_SERIAL with one field called Field_NUMBER which has only 1 record set to 1.
- Every time a certificate is printed, we
1. Begin transaction
2. Select @number = Field_NUMBER from Table_SERIAL with a TABLOCK HOLDLOCK
3. Insert that number into the Field_SERIAL_NUMBER field in the certificate table
4. Increment @number by 1
5. Update Field_NUMBER with @number in Table_SERIAL
6. Unlock table

So, everytime the Field_NUMBER is pulled, it should be unique and incremented by 1.

Does this approach sound good?

Joyce

4. Increment