obtaining row number of select

So I'm trying to generate a pseudo-serial number of a select
statement on the fly, and I want to do so within the select
statement.  I could do this programmatically, but I wish to
use the select statement so that I can use it in creating a
view.

So, I would like to do something like so:
select serial(),* from mytable order by 1;

But of course that won't work.  :)  Is there any way to
autovivify a serial-like column for a select statement?
(I've scoured the docs, and still can't find an answer.)

--keith

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