Declare variable and use in query - sql

Please consider the following
declare #MyField varchar(255);
set #MyField = 'MyDatabaseField';
select distinct Table.#MyField
from Table
This results in the error Incorrect syntax near #MyField. Then I tried:
select distinct Table.['+#MyField+']
from Table
However, this results in an Incorrect column name error.
How do I correctly use the #MyField in this query? I'm on SQL Server 2008.

Please try executing by building a string.
declare #MyField varchar(255);
set #MyField = 'MyDatabaseField';
exec ('select distinct Table.'+#MyField+' from Table')
Refer sp_executesql (Transact-SQL), Using sp_executesql

You should use dynamic SQL to achieve that. You can use sp_executesql stored proc to do that. Please not that I changed your variable declaration to **N**VARCHAR.
declare #MyField nvarchar(255)
set #MyField = N'MyDatabaseField'
declare #sql nvarchar(max) = N'select distinct ' + #MyField + N' from TableName'
exec sp_executesql #sql

Related

ERROR: 'Incorrect syntax near ' in declare phrase

I am stuck with an error
SQL Error [102] [S0001]: Incorrect syntax near 'go'
when I declare a variable and execute select * from #variable.
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance
declare #vocabulary_database_schema varchar(50)
set #vocabulary_database_schema = 'dbo'
select * from #vocabulary_database_schema.CONCEPT
go
If you are using SQL Server, there are multiple issues with your code. Most importantly, you need to use dynamic SQL. Something like this:
declare #vocabulary_database_schema varchar(50);
declare #sql nvarchar(max);
set #sql = 'select * from #vocabulary_database_schema.CONCEPT';
set #sql = replace(#sql, #vocabulary_database_schema, 'dbo');
exec sp_executesql #sql;

Is it possible to set a part of a select statement in a variable

I have a query of which the select-part is really long. I'd like to split this in several pieces, especially because some parts are in there twice or even more often.
What I'd like is something like the following:
Declare #SQLPart as varchar(1000)
Set #SQLPart = 'Field1,
case ... as Field2,'
Select ..., #SQLPart, ... From .....
Unfortunately this results error messages. I tried something like EXEC(#SQLPart) as well but of course this also didn't work. How would I solve this?
Yes, dynamic sql and sp_executesql:
CREATE TABLE ##Temp (Field1 int, Field2 int)
Declare #SQLPart nvarchar(1000)
Set #SQLPart = N'Field1, Field2 '
DECLARE #SQL nvarchar(1000) = N'SELECT ' + #SQLPart + 'FROM ##Temp'
PRINT #SQL
EXEC sp_executesql #SQL
DROP TABLE ##Temp
Your SQL code must be nvarchar type.
Alse sp_executesql is better than EXECUTE function, when you have many similar queries, sp_executesql caches executaion plans, and it can be better in perfomance.
You can use dynamic sql here,and use a EXECUTE keyword to execute this dynamic query
Declare #SQLPart as varchar(1000)
Set #SQLPart = 'Field1,
case ... as Field2,'
EXECUTE ('SELECT ....,'+#SQLPart+',... FROM ...')
SQL Server does not support Macro-Substitution, so you would have to use Dynamic SQL.
Declare #SQL varchar(max) ='Select ... ' + #SQLPart + '... from ...'
Exec(#SQL)

How to create sp_executesql to drop tables dynamicaly

For some reasons, I am trying to create a dynamic script to drop tables that I created before. I couldnt do the syntax right and I need help for this matter.
When I run my script, it gives the error:
"Procedure expects parameter '#statement' of type 'ntext/nchar/nvarchar'."
and this is my script. It has an error in sp_executesql statement, I guess. How can I fix this?
DECLARE #sql VARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #tmpTableName VARCHAR(max);
SET #tmpTableName = '##gmAAA_COLLATION';
SET #sql = 'DROP TABLE #tmpTableName';
EXEC sp_executesql #sql, N'#tmpTableName NVARCHAR(max)', #tmpTableName;
You cannot do this with static SQL, i.e. a table name can never be a parameter in SQL statements like these. This is also true for column names, schema names etc.
If you want to do this using sp_executesql, you can build the SQL dynamically as follows:
SET #sql = 'DROP TABLE '+QUOTENAME(#tmpTableName);
EXEC sp_executesql #sql;
PS: The #stmt parameter of the sp_executesql procedure needs to be of type NVARCHAR(...).
SET #sql = 'DROP TABLE '+#tmpTableName;
EXEC sp_executesql #sql;
The sp_executesql requires nvarchar for the #stmt and #params parameters
so change the data Types of variables form varchar to be nvarchar as following
DECLARE #sql NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #tmpTableName VARCHAR(max);
Try the following query:-
SET #sql = 'DROP TABLE #tmpTableName'; EXEC (#sql)
OR
DECLARE #sql NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #tmpTableName NVARCHAR(max)
SET #tmpTableName = '##gmAAA_COLLATION';
SET #sql = 'DROP TABLE'+QUOTENAME(#tmpTableName);
EXEC sp_executesql #sql,N'#tmpTableName NVARCHAR(max)',#tmpTableName

How to pass a table variable using sp_executesql

I'm trying to create a table using sp_executesql but I keep getting an error that says "Incorrect syntax near '#_TableName'. Any idea what I'm doing wrong here?
Here's the code that I'm using:
DECLARE #SQLString NVARCHAR(MAX),
#ParamDefinition NVARCHAR(MAX),
#TableName NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET #TableName = N'[dbo].[MyTable]';
SET #SQLString = N'SELECT * FROM #_TableName;';
SET #ParamDefinition = N'#_TableName NVARCHAR(max)';
EXEC sp_executesql #SQLString, #ParamDefinition,
#_TableName = #TableName;
That yields the error:
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1
Incorrect syntax near '#_TableName'.
If I hard code the table name and the column type (I have to do both) then the query works, otherwise I get the incorrect syntax message for both those variables.
In case you're wondering, I want to put this code inside a stored procedure, so that if anyone wants to create or modify a table then they call this stored procedure which can run additional validations.
Figured out the problem.
Apparently sp_executesql expects the parameter definition for a table to be of a table type (see this answer for an example: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4264553/21539).
An easier way to solve this problem was to insert the variables names directly into the SQLStatement string as follows:
DECLARE #SQLString NVARCHAR(MAX),
#TableName NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET #TableName = N'[dbo].[MyTable]';
SET #SQLString = N'SELECT * FROM ' + #TableName + ';';
SET #ParamDefinition = N'#_TableName NVARCHAR(max);
EXEC sp_executesql #SQLString;

Using variable inside dynamic SQL

I have the below SQL..What I am trying to do is use the Parameter defined at the stored procedure level inside dynamic SQL:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[Test]
(#DealID NVARCHAR(500),
#OUTPUT NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT,
#FeeType CHAR(1)
) -- I want to use this parameter inside dynamic SQL query
AS
DECLARE #exec_str NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #ParmDefinition NVARCHAR(MAX)
BEGIN
SET #exec_str = N'DECLARE #ParmDefinition NVARCHAR(500)
SELECT * FROM #FeeType' --This is where I want to use the variable
DECLARE #ParamDefinition nvarchar(max)
SET #ParamDefinition = N'#OUTPUT NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT'
EXEC sp_executesql #exec_str, #ParamDefinition
Can someone please tell me how to do it?
Thanks
In SQL Server Identifiers can't be parameterized.
Since you are using dynamic SQL anyway, you can do something like this:
SET #exec_str= N'Select * from '+ #FeeType
EXEC(#exec_str)
However, this is vulnerable to SQL injection attacks. To reduce the risk to minimum you should check first that such a table name exists, and I would also use quotename just to be on the safe side:
IF EXISTS
(
SELECT 1
FROM Information_Schema.Tables
WHERE TABLE_NAME = #FeeType
)
BEGIN
SET #exec_str= N'Select * from '+ QUOTENAME(#FeeType)
EXEC(#exec_str)
END