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SQL Server FAQ - What Are User Defined Functions

By: FYIcenter.com

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What Are User Defined Functions?

A user defined function is a collection of Transact-SQL statements that stored in the SQL Server. A user defined function will return data when executed.

A user defined function works in the same way as a system function. It can be used as a scalar expression or a temporary table depending on the turning data format. A system function is provided as part of the SQL Server. But a user defined function must be created and managed by yourself.

If you are using a group of statements to calculate the same data repeatedly in different places, you should consider to create a user defined function for that group of statements.

User defined functions are also called functions.

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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?