I have changed the name of a stored procedure in SQL Server using the GUI and it changed, but whenever I try to modify procedure code with sp_helptext, in the query editor, it was showing the old procedure name.
How to get rid of the problem?
It seems that this definition is being updated only when you run ALTER statement..
Do not use use sp_helptext for scripting!
If you want to modify the procedure code, use SSMS GUI: right click on procedure > alter to > new query.
Or use one the following to acquire the defition from T-SQL:
select object_definition(object_id('uspTestProc'))
select * from sys.sql_modules where object_id = object_id('uspTestProc')
Apart from the problem you're experiencing, in sp_help docs you can read about sp_help result: "Each row contains 255 characters of the Transact-SQL definition". This means that if you have lines longer than 255 character in procedure code, such line will be broken down into 255 char chunks. In best case scenario your code won't work, but if you're unlucky it will work and produce incorrect result, for example if some code that you had in a comment will be movde to new line and become uncommented.
Renaming Procedure names in SQL Server is not a good option as it does not update the procedure text.
Avoid renaming procedures and prefer DROP and CREATE.
I used to write this on top of any create procedure statement. It worked fine when executed from either python sybase lib; c++ sybase lib, or Toad for sybase.
However since I started using "oracle sql developper" it is not working anymore. I get "incorrect syntax near go".
I can execute separately ( the below and the create procedure ) but not execute without the go, otherwise I get "create procedure statement must be the first statement of a batch"
IF EXISTS
(
SELECT 1
FROM sysobjects
WHERE type = 'P' and name = 'proc_name'
)
BEGIN
DROP PROCEDURE proc_name
END
GO
I cannot use toad as I am working with control freaks admin. I'm not local admin, I cannot install software the tools used are dictated by management.
Do you have any idea ?
This appears to be an issue related to SQLDeveloper.
REPLACE each GO by / and it runs.
I have three stored procedures Sp1, Sp2 and Sp3.
The first one (Sp1) will execute the second one (Sp2) and save returned data into #tempTB1 and the second one will execute the third one (Sp3) and save data into #tempTB2.
If I execute the Sp2 it will work and it will return me all my data from the Sp3, but the problem is in the Sp1, when I execute it it will display this error:
INSERT EXEC statement cannot be nested
I tried to change the place of execute Sp2 and it display me another error:
Cannot use the ROLLBACK statement
within an INSERT-EXEC statement.
This is a common issue when attempting to 'bubble' up data from a chain of stored procedures. A restriction in SQL Server is you can only have one INSERT-EXEC active at a time. I recommend looking at How to Share Data Between Stored Procedures which is a very thorough article on patterns to work around this type of problem.
For example a work around could be to turn Sp3 into a Table-valued function.
This is the only "simple" way to do this in SQL Server without some giant convoluted created function or executed sql string call, both of which are terrible solutions:
create a temp table
openrowset your stored procedure data into it
EXAMPLE:
INSERT INTO #YOUR_TEMP_TABLE
SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET ('SQLOLEDB','Server=(local);TRUSTED_CONNECTION=YES;','set fmtonly off EXEC [ServerName].dbo.[StoredProcedureName] 1,2,3')
Note: You MUST use 'set fmtonly off', AND you CANNOT add dynamic sql to this either inside the openrowset call, either for the string containing your stored procedure parameters or for the table name. Thats why you have to use a temp table rather than table variables, which would have been better, as it out performs temp table in most cases.
OK, encouraged by jimhark here is an example of the old single hash table approach: -
CREATE PROCEDURE SP3 as
BEGIN
SELECT 1, 'Data1'
UNION ALL
SELECT 2, 'Data2'
END
go
CREATE PROCEDURE SP2 as
BEGIN
if exists (select * from tempdb.dbo.sysobjects o where o.xtype in ('U') and o.id = object_id(N'tempdb..#tmp1'))
INSERT INTO #tmp1
EXEC SP3
else
EXEC SP3
END
go
CREATE PROCEDURE SP1 as
BEGIN
EXEC SP2
END
GO
/*
--I want some data back from SP3
-- Just run the SP1
EXEC SP1
*/
/*
--I want some data back from SP3 into a table to do something useful
--Try run this - get an error - can't nest Execs
if exists (select * from tempdb.dbo.sysobjects o where o.xtype in ('U') and o.id = object_id(N'tempdb..#tmp1'))
DROP TABLE #tmp1
CREATE TABLE #tmp1 (ID INT, Data VARCHAR(20))
INSERT INTO #tmp1
EXEC SP1
*/
/*
--I want some data back from SP3 into a table to do something useful
--However, if we run this single hash temp table it is in scope anyway so
--no need for the exec insert
if exists (select * from tempdb.dbo.sysobjects o where o.xtype in ('U') and o.id = object_id(N'tempdb..#tmp1'))
DROP TABLE #tmp1
CREATE TABLE #tmp1 (ID INT, Data VARCHAR(20))
EXEC SP1
SELECT * FROM #tmp1
*/
My work around for this problem has always been to use the principle that single hash temp tables are in scope to any called procs. So, I have an option switch in the proc parameters (default set to off). If this is switched on, the called proc will insert the results into the temp table created in the calling proc. I think in the past I have taken it a step further and put some code in the called proc to check if the single hash table exists in scope, if it does then insert the code, otherwise return the result set. Seems to work well - best way of passing large data sets between procs.
This trick works for me.
You don't have this problem on remote server, because on remote server, the last insert command waits for the result of previous command to execute. It's not the case on same server.
Profit that situation for a workaround.
If you have the right permission to create a Linked Server, do it.
Create the same server as linked server.
in SSMS, log into your server
go to "Server Object
Right Click on "Linked Servers", then "New Linked Server"
on the dialog, give any name of your linked server : eg: THISSERVER
server type is "Other data source"
Provider : Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL server
Data source: your IP, it can be also just a dot (.), because it's localhost
Go to the tab "Security" and choose the 3rd one "Be made using the login's current security context"
You can edit the server options (3rd tab) if you want
Press OK, your linked server is created
now your Sql command in the SP1 is
insert into #myTempTable
exec THISSERVER.MY_DATABASE_NAME.MY_SCHEMA.SP2
Believe me, it works even you have dynamic insert in SP2
I found a work around is to convert one of the prods into a table valued function. I realize that is not always possible, and introduces its own limitations. However, I have been able to always find at least one of the procedures a good candidate for this. I like this solution, because it doesn't introduce any "hacks" to the solution.
I encountered this issue when trying to import the results of a Stored Proc into a temp table, and that Stored Proc inserted into a temp table as part of its own operation. The issue being that SQL Server does not allow the same process to write to two different temp tables at the same time.
The accepted OPENROWSET answer works fine, but I needed to avoid using any Dynamic SQL or an external OLE provider in my process, so I went a different route.
One easy workaround I found was to change the temporary table in my stored procedure to a table variable. It works exactly the same as it did with a temp table, but no longer conflicts with my other temp table insert.
Just to head off the comment I know that a few of you are about to write, warning me off Table Variables as performance killers... All I can say to you is that in 2020 it pays dividends not to be afraid of Table Variables. If this was 2008 and my Database was hosted on a server with 16GB RAM and running off 5400RPM HDDs, I might agree with you. But it's 2020 and I have an SSD array as my primary storage and hundreds of gigs of RAM. I could load my entire company's database to a table variable and still have plenty of RAM to spare.
Table Variables are back on the menu!
I recommend to read this entire article. Below is the most relevant section of that article that addresses your question:
Rollback and Error Handling is Difficult
In my articles on Error and Transaction Handling in SQL Server, I suggest that you should always have an error handler like
BEGIN CATCH
IF ##trancount > 0 ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
EXEC error_handler_sp
RETURN 55555
END CATCH
The idea is that even if you do not start a transaction in the procedure, you should always include a ROLLBACK, because if you were not able to fulfil your contract, the transaction is not valid.
Unfortunately, this does not work well with INSERT-EXEC. If the called procedure executes a ROLLBACK statement, this happens:
Msg 3915, Level 16, State 0, Procedure SalesByStore, Line 9 Cannot use the ROLLBACK statement within an INSERT-EXEC statement.
The execution of the stored procedure is aborted. If there is no CATCH handler anywhere, the entire batch is aborted, and the transaction is rolled back. If the INSERT-EXEC is inside TRY-CATCH, that CATCH handler will fire, but the transaction is doomed, that is, you must roll it back. The net effect is that the rollback is achieved as requested, but the original error message that triggered the rollback is lost. That may seem like a small thing, but it makes troubleshooting much more difficult, because when you see this error, all you know is that something went wrong, but you don't know what.
I had the same issue and concern over duplicate code in two or more sprocs. I ended up adding an additional attribute for "mode". This allowed common code to exist inside one sproc and the mode directed flow and result set of the sproc.
what about just store the output to the static table ? Like
-- SubProcedure: subProcedureName
---------------------------------
-- Save the value
DELETE lastValue_subProcedureName
INSERT INTO lastValue_subProcedureName (Value)
SELECT #Value
-- Return the value
SELECT #Value
-- Procedure
--------------------------------------------
-- get last value of subProcedureName
SELECT Value FROM lastValue_subProcedureName
its not ideal, but its so simple and you don't need to rewrite everything.
UPDATE:
the previous solution does not work well with parallel queries (async and multiuser accessing) therefore now Iam using temp tables
-- A local temporary table created in a stored procedure is dropped automatically when the stored procedure is finished.
-- The table can be referenced by any nested stored procedures executed by the stored procedure that created the table.
-- The table cannot be referenced by the process that called the stored procedure that created the table.
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#lastValue_spGetData') IS NULL
CREATE TABLE #lastValue_spGetData (Value INT)
-- trigger stored procedure with special silent parameter
EXEC dbo.spGetData 1 --silent mode parameter
nested spGetData stored procedure content
-- Save the output if temporary table exists.
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#lastValue_spGetData') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
DELETE #lastValue_spGetData
INSERT INTO #lastValue_spGetData(Value)
SELECT Col1 FROM dbo.Table1
END
-- stored procedure return
IF #silentMode = 0
SELECT Col1 FROM dbo.Table1
Declare an output cursor variable to the inner sp :
#c CURSOR VARYING OUTPUT
Then declare a cursor c to the select you want to return.
Then open the cursor.
Then set the reference:
DECLARE c CURSOR LOCAL FAST_FORWARD READ_ONLY FOR
SELECT ...
OPEN c
SET #c = c
DO NOT close or reallocate.
Now call the inner sp from the outer one supplying a cursor parameter like:
exec sp_abc a,b,c,, #cOUT OUTPUT
Once the inner sp executes, your #cOUT is ready to fetch. Loop and then close and deallocate.
If you are able to use other associated technologies such as C#, I suggest using the built in SQL command with Transaction parameter.
var sqlCommand = new SqlCommand(commandText, null, transaction);
I've created a simple Console App that demonstrates this ability which can be found here:
https://github.com/hecked12/SQL-Transaction-Using-C-Sharp
In short, C# allows you to overcome this limitation where you can inspect the output of each stored procedure and use that output however you like, for example you can feed it to another stored procedure. If the output is ok, you can commit the transaction, otherwise, you can revert the changes using rollback.
On SQL Server 2008 R2, I had a mismatch in table columns that caused the Rollback error. It went away when I fixed my sqlcmd table variable populated by the insert-exec statement to match that returned by the stored proc. It was missing org_code. In a windows cmd file, it loads result of stored procedure and selects it.
set SQLTXT= declare #resets as table (org_id nvarchar(9), org_code char(4), ^
tin(char9), old_strt_dt char(10), strt_dt char(10)); ^
insert #resets exec rsp_reset; ^
select * from #resets;
sqlcmd -U user -P pass -d database -S server -Q "%SQLTXT%" -o "OrgReport.txt"
I need to create a stored procedure one time and in one place only on my database server, but be able to run it from any database. However, I don't want to have to type database.schema.procedure_name every time I run it. I'd like to be able to use it like the built in procedures: sp_... is there any way to do this?
here is the procedure that I'm trying to create:
--actual procedure is more complex
CREATE PROCEDURE TestProcedure
AS
select * from sys.dm_exec_requests
go
here is how I'd like to run it from SQL Server Management Studio:
EXEC TestProcedure
--or
TestProcedure
however, you you get this error:
Msg 2812, Level 16, State 62, Line 1
Could not find stored procedure 'TestProcedure'.
everything runs fine if I run it with:
EXEC master.dbo.TestProcedure
--or
master.dbo.TestProcedure
you can run system procedures like this without any errors:
EXEC sp_help
--or
sp_help
Just create it in the master database and give it the sp_ prefix and it will work. SQL Server always checks the master database first for stored procedures (and other types of objects as well) with this prefix.
It will handle the datbase context for you as well as below.
USE master
create proc [dbo].[sp_test] as
select db_name()
GO
USE YourDB
EXEC master..sp_test /*Returns "master"*/
EXEC sp_test /*Returns "YourDB"*/
Edit:
Just following up Cade's comment to mark it as a system procedure. This seems like it might well be required in some circumstances. In SQL 2005+ you would use
EXEC sys.sp_MS_marksystemobject 'dbo.sp_test'
Any pointers on how I can programmatically get exactly the identical stored procedure source from SQL Server 2005, as when I right-click on that stored procedure in SQL Server Management Studio and select modify?
I'm trying using SMO, but there are some textual differences. The procedure always has CREATE, not ALTER, and there are some differences in the header, such as missing GOs in the version I'm getting programmatically. I can fix these up, but perhaps there is a better way?
Again, I'm in SQL Server 2005, using SMSE. Using SMO via Visual Studio 8 2008.
Update: Gotten some answers that tell the basics of how to retrieve the stored procedure. What I'm looking for is retrieving the text identical (or nearly identical) to what the GUI generates.
Example: for sp_mysp, right-click in Management Studio, select modify. This generates:
USE [MY_DB]
GO
/****** Object: StoredProcedure [dbo].[sp_mysp] Script Date: 01/21/2009 17:43:18 ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
-- =============================================
-- Author:
-- Create date:
-- Description:
-- =============================================
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_mysp]
I'd like to programmatically get the same thing (notice the GOs in the header, and the fact that it's an ALTER PROCEDURE. Ideally, I'd like to get this with minimal programmatic fixing up of the source retrieved.
I'd be happy to only get something that differed in the Script Date details . . .
EXEC sp_helptext 'your procedure name';
This avoids the problem with INFORMATION_SCHEMA approach wherein the stored procedure gets cut off if it is too long.
Update: David writes that this isn't identical to his sproc...perhaps because it returns the lines as 'records' to preserve formatting? If you want to see the results in a more 'natural' format, you can use Ctrl-T first (output as text) and it should print it out exactly as you've entered it. If you are doing this in code, it is trivial to do a foreach to put together your results in exactly the same way.
Update 2: This will provide the source with a "CREATE PROCEDURE" rather than an "ALTER PROCEDURE" but I know of no way to make it use "ALTER" instead. Kind of a trivial thing, though, isn't it?
Update 3: See the comments for some more insight on how to maintain your SQL DDL (database structure) in a source control system. That is really the key to this question.
You will have to hand code it, SQL Profiler reveals the following.
SMSE executes quite a long string of queries when it generates the statement.
The following query (or something along its lines) is used to extract the text:
SELECT
NULL AS [Text],
ISNULL(smsp.definition, ssmsp.definition) AS [Definition]
FROM
sys.all_objects AS sp
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.sql_modules AS smsp ON smsp.object_id = sp.object_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.system_sql_modules AS ssmsp ON ssmsp.object_id = sp.object_id
WHERE
(sp.type = N'P' OR sp.type = N'RF' OR sp.type='PC')and(sp.name=N'#test___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________00003EE1' and SCHEMA_NAME(sp.schema_id)=N'dbo')
It returns the pure CREATE which is then substituted with ALTER in code somewhere.
The SET ANSI NULL stuff and the GO statements and dates are all prepended to this.
Go with sp_helptext, its simpler ...
You said programmatically, right? I hope C# is ok. I know you said that you tried SMO and it didn't quite do what you wanted, so this probably won't be perfect for your request, but it will programmatically read out legit SQL statements that you could run to recreate the stored procedure. If it doesn't have the GO statements that you want, you can probably assume that each of the strings in the StringCollection could have a GO after it. You may not get that comment with the date and time in it, but in my similar sounding project (big-ass deployment tool that has to back up everything individually), this has done rather nicely. If you have a prior base that you wanted to work from, and you still have the original database to run this on, I'd consider tossing the initial effort and restandardizing on this output.
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo;
…
string connectionString = … /* some connection string */;
ServerConnection sc = new ServerConnection(connectionString);
Server s = new Server(connection);
Database db = new Database(s, … /* database name */);
StoredProcedure sp = new StoredProcedure(db, … /* stored procedure name */);
StringCollection statements = sp.Script;
Use the following select statement to get the whole definition:
select ROUTINE_DEFINITION
from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES
where ROUTINE_NAME = 'someprocname'
I guess that SSMS and other tools read this out and make changes where necessary, such as changing CREATE to ALTER. As far as I know, SQL stores not other representations of the procedure.
I agree with Mark. I set the output to text mode and then sp_HelpText 'sproc'. I have this binded to Crtl-F1 to make it easy.
The Databse Publishing Wizard can dump the schema (and other objects) from the command line.
I just want to note that instead of using find and replace to change create procedure to alter procedure, you are just as well to use a drop, you can put it right at the top and it does require text searching.
IF exists (SELECT * FROM sys.objects
WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'sp_name')
and type in ('P','V') --procedure or view
)
DROP sp_name
GO
If you are sure it's there, I guess you could just drop it too, but I wouldn't recommend that. Don't forget the go, since create procedure must be the first and only statement in a batch.
Or the lazy approach:
IF OBJECT_ID(N'sp_name') is not null
DROP sp_name
GO
I saw a article via link.
There are four methods, I just did a short summary here for helping other programmers.
EXEC sp_helptext 'sp_name';
SELECT OBJECT_ID('sp_name')
SELECT OBJECT_DEFINITION(
OBJECT_ID('sp_name')
) AS [Definition];
SELECT * FROM sys.sql_modules WHERE object_id = object_id('sp_name');
To alter a stored procedure, here's the C# code:
SqlConnection con = new SqlConnection("your connection string");
con.Open();
cmd.CommandType = System.Data.CommandType.Text;
string sql = File.ReadAllText(YUOR_SP_SCRIPT_FILENAME);
cmd.CommandText = sql;
cmd.Connection = con;
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
con.Close();
Things to note:
Make sure the USER in the connection string have the right to alter SP
Remove all the GO,SET ANSI_NULLS XX,SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER statements from the script file. (If you don't, the SqlCommand will throw an error).