How to execute SQL Script which may or may not return data? - sql

Question

This is an extension of an old question of mine where the answer wasn't quite what I was asking. What I'm doing is executing SQL Script on an MS SQL Server database. This script may or may not return any recordsets. The problem is that the way that ADO components work, at least to my knowledge, I can only explicitly request one or the other.
If I know a query will return data, I use TADOQuery.Open
If I know a query will not return data, I use TADOConnection.Execute
If I don't know whether query will return data or not... ???
How can I execute any query and read the response to determine whether it has any recordsets or not so I can read that recordset?
What I've tried:
Calling TADOQuery.Open, but raises exception if there's no recordset
Calling TADOQuery.ExecSql, but never returns any data
Calling TADOConnection.Execute, but never returns any data
Using Option 3 and reverting to Option 1 on exceptions, but this is double the work (script files over 38,000 lines) and kinda nasty.
Using TADOCommand.Execute, but keeps raising "Parameter object is improperly defined. Inconsistent or incomplete information was provided" on creating some stored procedures (which otherwise don't happen when using TADOConnection.Execute).
Calling TADOConnection.Execute overload which returns _Recordset, but then the TADOConnection.Errors returns empty (and I depend on this).
Just as some background, the purpose is to implement something like the SQL Query tool in the SQL Server Management Studio. It allows you to execute any SQL script, and if it returns any recordsets, it displays them, otherwise it just displays output messages. The tool I'm working on automatically breaks SQL Script at GO statements, and executes each individual block separately. Some of those blocks might return data, and others might not. It's already obvious that I cannot make this determination prior to execution, so I'm looking for a way to go ahead with the execution and observe the result. TADOConnection.Execute provides some useful information, including the Errors (or output messages).
As of now, the only option I have is to supply an option in the user interface to allow the user to choose which type of execution to use - but this is what I'm trying to eliminate.
EDIT
The TADOCommand.Execute method is the closest to what I want. However, it fails on some bits of script which otherwise work perfectly fine using TADOConnection.Execute. See #5 above in "What I've tried". I almost wrote that as my answer, until I found this error happens on almost everything.
EDIT
After posting my answer below, I then came to learn that the Errors property no longer returns anything when I use this other overload of Execute. See #6 above in "What I've tried".
Calling...
ADOConnection1.Execute('select * from something', cmdText, []);
...does not return anything in ADOConnection1.Errors, whereas...
var
R: Integer;
begin
ADOConnection1.Execute('select * from something', R);
...does return messages in ADOConnection1.Errors, which is what I need, but yet, doesn't return any recordsets.

Answer 1

EDIT: Not the right solution
I discovered my solution finally after digging even deeper. The answer is to use the TADOConnection.Execute() overload which supports returning the recordset:
function TADOConnection.Execute(const CommandText: WideString;
const CommandType: TCommandType = cmdText;
const ExecuteOptions: TExecuteOptions = []): _Recordset;
Then, just assign the resulting _Recordset to the Recordset property of supported dataset components.
var
RS: _Recordset;
begin
RS := ADOConnection1.Execute('select * from something', cmdText, []);
if Assigned(RS) then begin
ADODataset1.Recordset:= RS;
...
end;
end;
The downside is that you cannot use the other overload which supports returning the RowsAffected. Also, nothing is returned in the Errors property of the TADOConnection when using this overload version of Execute, whereas the other one does. But that other doesn't return a recordset.