Dynamic SQL output of a query to a variable - sql

Question

I would like to output the result of the dynamic SQL into a variable called #Count but not sure what the syntax or even the code should like to accomplish this.
The code looks as follows:
declare #tab nvarchar(255) = 'Person.person'
declare #Count int
declare #SQL nvarchar(max) = 'select count(*) from '+ #tab
exec(#SQl)
select #Count
thank you

Answer 1

Here's another way to do it that also safely addresses the SQL Injection isuues:
/* Counts the number of rows from any non-system Table, *SAFELY* */
-- The table name passed
DECLARE #PassedTableName as NVarchar(255) = 'Person.Person';
-- Make sure this isn't a SQL Injection attempt
DECLARE #ActualTableName AS NVarchar(255)
SELECT #ActualTableName = TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE TABLE_NAME = PARSENAME(#PassedTableName,1)
AND TABLE_SCHEMA = PARSENAME(#PassedTableName,2)
-- make a temp table to hold the results
CREATE TABLE #tmp( cnt INT );
-- create the dynamic SQL
DECLARE #sql AS NVARCHAR(MAX)
SELECT #sql = 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ' + #ActualTableName + ';'
-- execute it and store the output into the temp table
INSERT INTO #tmp( cnt )
EXEC(#SQL);
-- Now, finally, we can get it into a local variable
DECLARE #result AS INT;
SELECT #result = cnt FROM #tmp;

Answer 2

You can utilize sp_executesql to execute your count() query, and output it #Count.
Try this:
-- Set the table to count from
declare #tab nvarchar(255) = 'Person.person'
-- Assign the SQL query
declare #SQL nvarchar(255) = N'SELECT count(*) FROM ' + #tab
-- Pepare for sp_executesql
declare #Count int
declare #Params nvarchar(100) = N'#Count int output'
-- Set the count to #Count
exec sp_executesql #SQL, #Params, #Count=#Count output
-- Output #Count
select #Count
One last thing: Person.person looks like you might be trying to reference a person column from a Person table. But the above query is a literal representation of what it looks like you're trying to achieve in your question.

Answer 3

The below question is pretty much identical to what you are asking here.
sp_executeSql with output parameter
DECLARE #retval int
DECLARE #sSQL nvarchar(500);
DECLARE #ParmDefinition nvarchar(500);
DECLARE #tablename nvarchar(50)
SELECT #tablename = N'products'
SELECT #sSQL = N'SELECT #retvalOUT = MAX(ID) FROM ' + #tablename;
SET #ParmDefinition = N'#retvalOUT int OUTPUT';
EXEC sp_executesql #sSQL, #ParmDefinition, #retvalOUT=#retval OUTPUT;
SELECT #retval;