Hi Lynanee, The HeirarchyID is a new datatype for SQL 2008. Microsoft does a much better job of explaining it than I can do, but as a brief summary it is handy for items that fall into a heirarchy, like a chain of command in an organization, family tree structures, etc. The datatype also makes for easier programmatical recrusion (not that I've looked at the execution plans to back this up but the code looks easier). Here is a Microsoft link that describes the new datatype http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677290.aspx Here is a tutorial of working with the dataytpe. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677213.aspx Once you understand how it works, it's benefits and drawbacks; maybe it'll bring some clarity as to why it has been used in your organization and/or how to interact with it. Hope this helps! Jon

I am migrating data from an old database to a newly developed data warehouse using SSIS on the platform of SQL server 2008. One of the fields on some of the destination tables has hierarchyID as a data type. I really don't know how to use this feature and I need help with it please. Where do I begin? what are the things to consider?