...it's me...eRiCk

hi, just want to post something that might be useful DECLARE @a AS TABLE ( autoid INT  , name VARCHAR(20) , parentid INT ) INSERT INTO @a (autoid, name, parentid) SELECT 1, '1', 0 UNION ALL SELECT 2, '1.1', 1 UNION ALL SELECT 3, '1.2', 1 UNION ALL SELECT 4, '1.2.1', 3 UNION ALL SELECT 5, '2.1', 2 UNION ALL SELECT 6, '3.1', 3 UNION ALL SELECT 7, '3.2', 3 /* 1 1 0 2 1.1 1 3 1.2 1 4 1.2.1 3 5 2.1 2 6 3.1 3 7 3.2 3 */ /* Get Parent Records from child '1.2.1' return: 1.2 (parent from '1.2.1') 1 (parent from '1.2') */ ;WITH    employeeMaster       AS ( SELECT   p.autoid ,                     p.parentid ,                     p.[name]            FROM     @a p            WHERE ...