SQL Server table valued functions with T-SQL practical examples.
Table-valued functions in SQL Server are a type of user-defined function that return a table data type. These functions are a powerful tool that can help organize your SQL code, facilitate code reuse, and provide a layer of abstraction over your data operations.
Much like a traditional SQL function, table-valued functions allow you to encapsulate complex logic within a function, providing an easier way to manage and maintain complex SQL queries. However, unlike scalar functions that return a single value, table-valued functions return a result set in the form of a table. T-SQL function are similar to mathematical functions.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to SQL Server Table-Valued Functions
To understand the concept of table-valued functions in SQL Server, it becomes necessary to create a sample table. Let’s create the ‘Products’ table with the following SQL statement and insert some records:
CREATE TABLE Products(
ProductID int PRIMARY KEY,
Name varchar(100),
Description varchar(500),
Price decimal(10,2),
Category varchar(100)
);
INSERT INTO Products(ProductID, Name, Description, Price, Category)
VALUES (1, 'Refrigerator', 'Large with double doors', 1500.00, 'Electronics'),
(2, 'Microwave', 'Compact with quick heating feature', 200.00, 'Electronics'),
(3, 'Television', '55 inches with 4K resolution', 1200.00, 'Electronics');
Table-valued functions in SQL Server return a table data type. This feature allows us to create reusable code that can appear to behave much like a table or a view.
2. Creating a basic Function to return a table
Let’s start by creating a simple table-valued function. This function will return all the products in the ‘Products’ table. The important option is triggered by the keyword RETURNS TABLE.
CREATE FUNCTION getAllProducts()
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT * FROM Products
);
To use this function, write a basic SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM getAllProducts();
The above function and query will return all the records from the ‘Products’ table.
3. Modifying a Table-Valued Function
Just like other database objects, table-valued functions may require modifications over time to meet changing requirements or fix issues. You can’t directly modify a function in SQL Server, but you can drop and recreate it. However, keep in mind that dropping a function can impact other database objects that depend on it, such as stored procedures, views, or other functions.
SQL Server provides the ALTER FUNCTION statement that lets you modify an existing function without dropping it. This statement allows you to redefine the function body, change the return type, or modify the parameters. Let’s say we want to modify it so it returns only the product names and prices, not the entire product records. We could do that with the ALTER FUNCTION statement:
ALTER FUNCTION getProductsByCategory(@category varchar(100))
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT Name, Price FROM Products WHERE Category = @category
);
Make sure to thoroughly test your functions after modification, as changes may affect the function’s behavior and, subsequently, any dependent database objects or application code. It’s also good practice to maintain version control and backups of your SQL functions and procedures to allow easy rollback if necessary.
Certainly, let’s take the previously defined getProductsByCategory function and modify it. The original function looked like this:
Now, when you call the getProductsByCategory function, it will only return the product names and prices in the specified category. This demonstrates how you can use the ALTER FUNCTION statement to modify the behavior of a table-valued
4. SQL Server Table-Valued Functions with parameters
Adding parameters to a table-valued function can allow you to filter the data returned. Let’s create a function that allows you to filter the products by category:
CREATE FUNCTION getProductsByCategory(@category varchar(100)) RETURNS TABLE AS RETURN ( SELECT * FROM Products WHERE Category = @category );
To use this function, pass the category as an argument in a SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM getProductsByCategory('Electronics');
5. Joining Results from Table-Valued Functions
We can treat the result from a table-valued function like any other table. For instance, you can join it with other tables or even other functions. Let’s create a ‘Categories’ table and a function to demonstrate this:
CREATE TABLE Categories(
CategoryID int PRIMARY KEY,
CategoryName varchar(100)
);
INSERT INTO Categories(CategoryID, CategoryName)
VALUES (1, 'Electronics'),
(2, 'Appliances'),
(3, 'Furniture');
CREATE FUNCTION getCategoryByID(@CategoryID int)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT * FROM Categories WHERE CategoryID = @CategoryID
);
Now, let’s join the result from getProductsByCategory function with the result from getCategoryByID function:
SELECT P.*, C.CategoryName
FROM getProductsByCategory('Electronics') AS P
JOIN getCategoryByID(1) AS C
ON P.Category = C.CategoryID;
This will return all the electronic products along with their category name.
6. Using Aggregations with Table-Valued Functions
Just like a regular table, you can perform aggregation operations on the results returned from a table-valued function. Let’s create a function to calculate the average price of products in a certain category:
CREATE FUNCTION averagePriceByCategory(@category varchar(100))
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT AVG(Price) as AveragePrice FROM Products WHERE Category = @category
);
You can call this function like this:
SELECT *
FROM averagePriceByCategory('Electronics');
7. Nested Table-Valued Functions
You can nest table-valued functions inside other table-valued functions. To demonstrate this, let’s create a function that returns the products with a price higher than the average price in their category:
CREATE FUNCTION productsAboveAveragePrice()
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
(
SELECT P.* FROM Products P
WHERE P.Price > (SELECT AveragePrice FROM averagePriceByCategory(P.Category))
);
The productsAboveAveragePrice function uses the averagePriceByCategory function to get the average price of products in each category and then returns the products with a price higher than this average.
Conclusion
Table-valued functions in SQL Server offer a versatile tool for creating reusable pieces of SQL code. They can return tables which you can use in joins, perform aggregation operations on, or even nest inside other table-valued functions. Understanding their use can help you write more efficient and maintainable SQL code.
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