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SQL Server FAQ - Syntaxes of Creating Table-Valued Functions

By: FYIcenter.com

(Continued from previous topic...)

How Many Ways to Create Table-Valued Functions?

SQL Server supports two syntaxes of creating table-valued functions:

1. Inline Table-valued Functions - A table-valued function created with a single SELECT statement:

CREATE FUNCTION function_name(
   @parameter_1 data_type, 
   @parameter_2 data_type, 
   ...
   @parameter_n data_type
   )
   RETURNS TABLE
   AS 
   RETURN (select_statement);

2. Multi-statement Table-valued Functions - A table-valued function created with a local temporary table and a statement block:

CREATE FUNCTION function_name(
      @parameter_1 data_type, 
      @parameter_2 data_type, 
      ...
      @parameter_n data_type
      )
   RETURNS @table_variable_name TABLE (
      column_definition_list)
   AS BEGIN
      statement_1;
      statement_2;
      ...
      statement_n;
      RETURN
   END

(Continued on next topic...)

1. What Are User Defined Functions?
2. What Are the Differences between User Defined Functions and Stored Procedures?
3. How To Create a Simple User Defined Function?
4. How To Use User Defined Functions in Expressions?
5. How To List All User Defined Functions in the Current Database?
6. How To Drop an Existing User Defined Function?
7. How To Generate CREATE FUNCTION Script on an Existing Function?
8. How To Get the Definition of a User Defined Function Back?
9. How To Modify an Existing User Defined Function?
10. How To Create User Defined Functions with Parameters?
11. How To Provide Values to User Defined Function Parameters?
12. Can You Pass Expressions to Function Parameters?
13. How To Provide Default Values to Function Parameters?
14. How Many Categories of Functions based Their Return Modes?
15. How Many Ways to Create Table-Valued Functions?
16. How To Create an Inline Table-Valued Function?
17. How To Create an Multi-Statement Table-Valued Function?