Insert statements fail when run against SQL Server 2008 - vb.net

Question

I have to deploy my VB.NET application developed in VB.NET and Visual Studio 2005. The customer is using SQL Server 2008, while the application is being built against SQL Server 2000.
I received the following error against SQL Server 2008:
An explicit value for identity column in 'Outgoing_Invoice' table can only be specified when column list is used and Identity Insert is ON
Here is my query for inserting data in two tables:
Dim cmd1 As New SqlCommand("Insert into Stock values(#invoice_no, #gate_pass, #exp_no, #clm_no, #category, #item_name, #weight, #units_case, 0, 0, #crtns_removed, #pieces_removed, 0, 0, #date_added, #date_removed, #inc_total_price, #out_total_price, #discount, #amount, 'Sold', #expiry_date) Insert into Outgoing_Invoice values(#invoice_no, #exp_no, #party_name, #party_code, #city, #contact, #category, #item_name, #weight, #units_case, #crtns_issued, #pieces_issued, #crtns_removed, #pieces_removed, 0, 0, #scheme, #unit_price, #out_total_price, #discount, #amount, #date_removed, #expiry_date, #order_booker, #salesman)", con)
The error message is shows at cmd1.executenonquery. Both these tables Stock and Outgoing_Invoice have an identity column labelled serial before #invoice.
The problem only arose when insert was tried on SQL Server 2008. When run against SQL Server 2000, it works as expected.
What can be the possible reason for this issue and how can it be resolved?

Answer 1

Your INSERT query needs to specify the column names before the VALUES clause otherwise these will be attempted in column order as defined in the DB (which is subject to change - this is not fixed).
Since you are getting an error it appears that the INSERT tries to insert into the identity column.
In general - when not inserting to all columns, you must specify column names. I would always specify column names as best practice.
So - specify a column list:
INSERT INTO aTable
(col1, col2)
VALUES
(#val1, #val2)

Answer 2

The insert into Outgoing_Invoice has one to many parameters.
This will work just fine. Values 1 and 2 goes to C1 and C2 and ID is assigned automatically.
declare #T table
(
ID int identity,
C1 int,
C2 int
)
insert into #T values (1, 2)
This will give the exact error you have
insert into #T values (1, 2, 3)
Check the table structure in your SQL Server 2000. It probably have one extra field. That would explain why it is working there.

Answer 3

You should specify fields list explicitly if you want to modify/insert IDENTITY column values of table.
Ie. your query should look like that:
Insert into Stock
(
here,
comes,
your,
real,
column,
names
)
values
(
#invoice_no,
#gate_pass,
#exp_no,
#clm_no,
#category,
#item_name,
#weight,
#units_case,
0,
0,
#crtns_removed,
#pieces_removed,
0,
0,
#date_added,
#date_removed,
#inc_total_price,
#out_total_price,
#discount,
#amount,
'Sold',
#expiry_date
)
Insert into Outgoing_Invoice
(
here,
comes,
your,
real,
column,
names,
too
)
values
(
#invoice_no,
#exp_no,
#party_name,
#party_code,
#city,
#contact,
#category,
#item_name,
#weight,
#units_case,
#crtns_issued,
#pieces_issued,
#crtns_removed,
#pieces_removed,
0,
0,
#scheme,
#unit_price,
#out_total_price,
#discount,
#amount,
#date_removed,
#expiry_date,
#order_booker,
#salesman
)