How can I assign an exec result to multiple sql variables? - sql

Question

I got the returned data after executing a stored procedure named [s_sspCallSharePointWebService] in SSMS
DECLARE #sWebAddr AS NVARCHAR(MAX),
#bAPISuccess AS NVARCHAR(10),
#objSharePointXML AS XML
SET #sWebAddr = 'http://...'
EXEC [s_sspCallSharePointWebService] #sWebAddr, #bAPISuccess OUTPUT, #objSharePointXML OUTPUT
I was wondering how do I save
the data in variables instead of returning a table below.
---------------------------------------
| (No column name) | (No column name) |
---------------------------------------
| True | <XMLRoot>.... |
---------------------------------------
Additionally, I cannot insert the data into a temp table here because I had the result of EXEC sp_OAGetProperty #objecttoken, 'responseText' in [s_sspCallSharePointWebService], and then already inserted the response text into a temp table.
That would cause an error:
An INSERT EXEC statement cannot be nested

Answer 1

It is very ugly (for me), but this can be done using temporary tables. The temporary table is visible to all routines in the current scope.
So, you can have nesting like this:
EXEC SP1
...
EXEC SP2
...
EXEC SP3
...
and let's say EXEC SP2 is returning a row set executing a SELECT statement. So, the question is how to materialized it?
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.SP1
AS
BEGIN;
SELECT 'SP1' AS [Caller];
EXEC dbo.SP2;
END;
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.SP2
AS
BEGIN;
SELECT 'SP2' AS [Caller];
INSERT INTO #TEST
SELECT 1;
END;
GO
CREATE TABLE #TEST
(
[ID] INT
);
EXEC dbo.SP1;
SELECT *
FROM #TEST;
The idea is to create the temporary table in the outer scope and the procedure to be sure that this table is already created and populate it. Then, use the table in the initial caller.
It's ugly for me, because if this table is not defined the routine will cause an error:
Msg 208, Level 16, State 0, Procedure dbo.SP2, Line 8 [Batch Start
Line 0] Invalid object name '#TEST'.
and it can be difficult to debug in some cases.

Answer 2

Instead of doing that, you can just use a table variable, and then SELECT from it to assign. Here's an example with a simple proc that returns a single row:
USE tempdb;
GO
CREATE OR ALTER PROC dbo.ReturnsOneRow
AS
BEGIN
SELECT 1 AS FirstColumn, 'Hello' AS SecondColumn, 4 AS ThirdColumn;
END;
GO
EXEC dbo.ReturnsOneRow;
GO
DECLARE #FirstColumn int;
DECLARE #SecondColumn varchar(20);
DECLARE #ThirdColumn int;
DECLARE #Row TABLE
(
FirstColumn int,
SecondColumn varchar(20),
ThirdColumn int
);
INSERT #Row
(
FirstColumn, SecondColumn, ThirdColumn
)
EXEC dbo.ReturnsOneRow;
SELECT TOP(1) #FirstColumn = r.FirstColumn,
#SecondColumn = r.SecondColumn,
#ThirdColumn = r.ThirdColumn
FROM #Row AS r;
-- Check the values
SELECT #FirstColumn, #SecondColumn, #ThirdColumn;
The table variable will be way better than a temp table in this situation, and you don't have issues with its visibility elsewhere, or having to clean it up (it's gone at the end of the batch).