Lost Identity Value On

Hi,
I face a different behaviour between SQL Server 6.5 and 7.0 regarding
the global variable @@identity.
I insert a row into a table with an identity column. This table has
an insert trigger attached which performs another insert into a second table.
Now I seem to lose the identity value (@@identity is NULL).

Example:
Take the following 2 tables:

create table a
(aaintnot nullidentity,
bbintnot null
)

create table b
(bintnot null
)
go

Table a has a trigger attached:

create trigger a_trigger
on a
for insert
as
insert b
select aa
from inserted
go


After this I execute the following SQL statement:

insert a (bb) values (1)
select @@identity


On 6.5 I get the result:
------------------------------------------
1

On 7.0 I get:
------------------------------------------
(null)

Which means that outside the trigger I have lost my identity value.
This feature of Version 6.5 I usually use to maintain
event logs. Using a trigger hides this maintenance nicely from the
application.
My question is now, is this a new feature of Version 7.0 or is it a bug?
BTW: The books online describe this behaviour in the case when the trigger
inserts value into a table with an identity property, which is not the case
in my example.

Regards
Marco

Marco Ruggli
ruggli_m@simultan.ch
Simultan P&I
Kantonsstrasse 1
6246 Altishofen, Switzerland