How to get sp_executesql result into a variable? - tsql

Question

I have a piece of dynamic SQL I need to execute, I then need to store the result into a variable.
I know I can use sp_executesql but can't find clear examples around about how to do this.

Answer 1

If you have OUTPUT parameters you can do
DECLARE #retval int
DECLARE #sSQL nvarchar(500);
DECLARE #ParmDefinition nvarchar(500);
DECLARE #tablename nvarchar(50)
SELECT #tablename = N'products'
SELECT #sSQL = N'SELECT #retvalOUT = MAX(ID) FROM ' + #tablename;
SET #ParmDefinition = N'#retvalOUT int OUTPUT';
EXEC sp_executesql #sSQL, #ParmDefinition, #retvalOUT=#retval OUTPUT;
SELECT #retval;
But if you don't, and can not modify the SP:
-- Assuming that your SP return 1 value
create table #temptable (ID int null)
insert into #temptable exec mysp 'Value1', 'Value2'
select * from #temptable
Not pretty, but works.

Answer 2

DECLARE #vi INT
DECLARE #vQuery NVARCHAR(1000)
SET #vQuery = N'SELECT #vi= COUNT(*) FROM <TableName>'
EXEC SP_EXECUTESQL
#Query = #vQuery
, #Params = N'#vi INT OUTPUT'
, #vi = #vi OUTPUT
SELECT #vi

Answer 3

DECLARE #tab AS TABLE (col1 VARCHAR(10), col2 varchar(10))
INSERT into #tab EXECUTE sp_executesql N'
SELECT 1 AS col1, 2 AS col2
UNION ALL
SELECT 1 AS col1, 2 AS col2
UNION ALL
SELECT 1 AS col1, 2 AS col2'
SELECT * FROM #tab

Answer 4

Return values are generally not used to "return" a result but to return success (0) or an error number (1-65K). The above all seem to indicate that sp_executesql does not return a value, which is not correct. sp_executesql will return 0 for success and any other number for failure.
In the below, #i will return 2727
DECLARE #s NVARCHAR(500)
DECLARE #i INT;
SET #s = 'USE [Blah]; UPDATE STATISTICS [dbo].[TableName] [NonExistantStatisticsName];';
EXEC #i = sys.sp_executesql #s
SELECT #i AS 'Blah'
SSMS will show this
Msg 2727, Level 11, State 1, Line 1
Cannot find index 'NonExistantStaticsName'.

Answer 5

If you want to return more than 1 value use this:
DECLARE #sqlstatement2 NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #retText NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #ParmDefinition NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #retIndex INT = 0;
SELECT #sqlstatement = 'SELECT #retIndexOUT=column1 #retTextOUT=column2 FROM XXX WHERE bla bla';
SET #ParmDefinition = N'#retIndexOUT INT OUTPUT, #retTextOUT NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT';
exec sp_executesql #sqlstatement, #ParmDefinition, #retIndexOUT=#retIndex OUTPUT, #retTextOUT=#retText OUTPUT;
returned values are in #retIndex and #retText

Answer 6

Declare #variable int
Exec #variable = proc_name

Answer 7

DECLARE #ValueTable TABLE
(
Value VARCHAR (100)
)
SELECT #sql = N'SELECT SRS_SizeSetDetails.'+#COLUMN_NAME+' FROM SRS_SizeSetDetails WHERE FSizeID = '''+#FSizeID+''' AND SRS_SizeSetID = '''+#SRS_SizeSetID+'''';
INSERT INTO #ValueTable
EXEC sp_executesql #sql;
SET #Value='';
SET #Value = (SELECT TOP 1 Value FROM #ValueTable)
DELETE FROM #ValueTable

Answer 8

This worked for me:
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(4000)
DECLARE #tbl Table (
Id int,
Account varchar(50),
Amount int
)
-- Lots of code to Create my dynamic sql statement
insert into #tbl EXEC sp_executesql #SQL
select * from #tbl

Answer 9

Here's something you can try
DECLARE #SqlStatement NVARCHAR(MAX) = ''
,#result XML
,#DatabaseName VARCHAR(100)
,#SchemaName VARCHAR(10)
,#ObjectName VARCHAR(200);
SELECT #DatabaseName = 'some database'
,#SchemaName = 'some schema'
,#ObjectName = 'some object (Table/View)'
SET #SqlStatement = '
SELECT #result = CONVERT(XML,
STUFF( ( SELECT *
FROM
(
SELECT TOP(100)
*
FROM ' + QUOTENAME(#DatabaseName) +'.'+ QUOTENAME(#SchemaName) +'.' + QUOTENAME(#ObjectName) + '
) AS A1
FOR XML PATH(''row''), ELEMENTS, ROOT(''recordset'')
), 1, 0, '''')
)
';
EXEC sp_executesql #SqlStatement,N'#result XML OUTPUT', #result = #result OUTPUT;
SELECT DISTINCT
QUOTENAME(r.value('fn:local-name(.)', 'VARCHAR(200)')) AS ColumnName
FROM #result.nodes('//recordset/*/*') AS records(r)
ORDER BY ColumnName

Answer 10

This was a long time ago, so not sure if this is still needed, but you could use ##ROWCOUNT variable to see how many rows were affected with the previous sql statement.
This is helpful when for example you construct a dynamic Update statement and run it with exec. ##ROWCOUNT would show how many rows were updated.
Here is the definition