create table #kbm_SP_XferTable_03
(
	dsTable	varchar(255),
	dsTID		int,	-- sysobjects ID
	dsLevel		int NULL default 50	-- Dependency level
)

INSERT INTO #kbm_SP_XferTable_03
(
	dsTable,
	dsTID
)
SELECT ... e.g. name, id FROM dbo.sysobjects WHERE type = 'U'

select	@strSQL = 'UPDATE DSc '
		+ 'SET	DSc.dsLevel = DSp.dsLevel-1 '
		+ 'from	dbo.sysforeignkeys FK '
		+ 'join #kbm_SP_XferTable_03 DSp on DSp.dsTID = FK.rkeyid '
		+ 'join #kbm_SP_XferTable_03 DSc on DSc.dsTID = FK.fkeyid '
		+ 'where DSc.dsLevel >= DSp.dsLevel'

set @intLoop = 10
while @intLoop > 0
BEGIN
	set @intLoop = @intLoop - 1
	exec (@strSQL)
END

select	dsTable,
	dsLevel
FROM	#kbm_SP_XferTable_03
ORDER BY dsLevel DESC, dsTable

create function dbo.fnNestLevel(@object_id int) returns int as
begin
	/* 	returns the "nesting" of an object
		0 = the object is a "top level" object, ie. it has no parents
		n = the object has n parents, ie how deeply it is nested
		example usage:

			select object_name(id) as table_name ,dbo.fnNestLevel(id) as nestlevel
			from sysobjects
			where type = 'u' order by 2, 1 --(specify 2 desc or 2 asc)

	*/
	declare @nestlevel int; set @nestlevel = -1
	declare @nest table(nestlevel int not null, objid int)
	insert @nest(nestlevel,objid)
	select @nestlevel,@object_id
	while @@rowcount <> 0
	begin
		set @nestlevel = @nestlevel + 1
		insert @nest(nestlevel,objid)
		select @nestlevel, s.rkeyid
		from sysreferences s join @nest n
		on s.fkeyid = n.objid
		where n.nestlevel = @nestlevel - 1
		and s.fkeyid <> s.rkeyid -- remove selfreferences
		and s.rkeyid not in(select objid from @nest) -- remove circular relationships
	end
	return @nestlevel
end
GO

select object_name(id) as table_name ,dbo.fnNestLevel(id) as nestlevel
from sysobjects
where type = 'u' order by 2 /*desc*/ , 1
GO

drop function dbo.fnNestLevel
GO