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ARTICLE 20060808 Building and Using Table UDFs in SQL Server

This document discusses table user-defined functions (UDFs) in SQL Server 2000/2005. Table UDFs allow treating result sets like tables/views by enabling joining, filtering, and other operations. They provide reusability and granularity beyond stored procedures. The example turns a stored procedure into a table UDF, demonstrating how to call it and join its results like a table. Table UDFs facilitate "atomic queries" that can be combined into more complex "molecular queries".

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34 views

ARTICLE 20060808 Building and Using Table UDFs in SQL Server

This document discusses table user-defined functions (UDFs) in SQL Server 2000/2005. Table UDFs allow treating result sets like tables/views by enabling joining, filtering, and other operations. They provide reusability and granularity beyond stored procedures. The example turns a stored procedure into a table UDF, demonstrating how to call it and join its results like a table. Table UDFs facilitate "atomic queries" that can be combined into more complex "molecular queries".

Uploaded by

api-3722405
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Category : Database

Product : SQL Server 2000 / 2005


Estimated reading time : 5 minutes

============================================

Building and using table UDFs in SQL Server


by Arthur Fuller
Published: 8/7/06

Takeaway:
Table UDFs (user-defined functions) are one of Arthur Fuller's favorite features of SQL Server
2000 and 2005. Find out why he says that, if you've never used them, you may be in for a
surprise.

----------

Table UDFs (user-defined functions) are one of my favorite features of SQL Server 2000 and
2005. If you've never used them, you may be in for a surprise.
A table UDF is similar to a stored procedure that returns a recordset. You might do something
as simple as the following code example, which results in a recordset with two columns and
zero or more rows.

CREATE PROCEDURE simple_ap


(
@cityID integer
)
AS
SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName
FROM Customers
WHERE Customers.CityID = @cityID

There is no easy way to reuse the results of such a stored procedure. For example, you can't
feed the recordset to another procedure, or JOIN the results to a table, view, or another
recordset. If you could, then your opportunities to reuse code would multiply significantly, and
you could design your code with this in mind.

Enter the table UDF. This construct enables you to treat the result set just as if it were a
genuine table or view — you can JOIN it to other objects, add a WHERE clause to it, and
much more.

The following code contains the syntax for creating a table UDF in SQL Server 2000:

CREATE FUNCTION [owner].[function_name]


(
@parm1 <datatpe> = <default>
)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT <column1, column2, ...>
FROM <table, view, etc.>
WHERE <some condition applies> -- optional clauses
)
To turn the stored procedure above into a table UDF, just substitute the appropriate chunks
for the place markers in the UDF syntax, so that it looks like this:

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[Customers_By_City_Select] -- denotes table


UDF
(
@city nvarchar(15)
)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT CustomerID, CompanyName
FROM dbo.Customers
WHERE Customers.City = @city
)

The result set is identical but with some cool new advantages. First, using the procedure
instead, a call would look like:

EXEC simple_ap 12345

A call to the UDF would look like this:

SELECT * FROM Customers_By_City_Select ('Berlin')

Note that using the UDF, we can add the word DISTINCT to the call, which I did to reduce the
result set in this code sample:

ALFKI AlfredsFutterkiste
ANATR Ana Trujillo Emparedados y helados
ANTON Antonio Moreno Taquería
AROUT Around the Horn

This not only demonstrates that a table function is an actual table; it also indicates that a
procedure that allowed this flexibility would have to be more complicated.
The fun is just beginning. We can select any subset of the columns returned by the function:

SELECT CustomerID FROM Customers_By_City_Select ('Berlin')

The coolest aspect of table functions is their table-ness: you can JOIN to tables, views, and
other table functions, referring to the UDF just as if it were a table:

SELECT Customers_By_City_Select.CustomerID, OrderID


FROM Customers_By_City_Select ('Berlin')
INNER JOIN Orders ON Orders.CustomerID =
Customers_By_City_Select.CustomerID

This returns the following result set:

ALFKI10643
ALFKI10692
ALFKI10702
ALFKI10835
ALFKI10952
ALFKI11011

This ability facilitates what I like to call atomic queries. An atomic query returns results from
one table (or view). By combining several atomic queries, you can create a molecular query
(consisting of several atoms). Table UDFs enable you to reach a level of granularity and
reusability that is impossible to achieve using stored procedures.

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