SQLServerCentral Article

Why Scalar Functions Can Be Costly

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User-defined functions (UDFs) were introduced in SQL Server 2000. I thought that they were the best things since sliced bread. Why? Because I could use them to modularize my code. What I didn't know at the time was how costly they can be to use.

Definitions

User-defined functions can be broken up into three categories:

  • Scalar Functions always return a single value and are most commonly found in the SELECT clauses and predicates.
  • Multi-line Table Functions always return a table variable. They can have one to N SQL Statements.
  • In-line Table Functions always return a table (not a table variable). They can only have one SQL Statement.

In this article, we look at scalar functions.

Scalar Functions

In this article, we’ll take a look at how Scalar Functions can be costly, how to identify the cost, and how to rewrite the query that is using the Scalar Function. In future articles, we’ll talk about Multi-line and In-line Table Functions.

Scalar Functions are costly, due to the fact that they execute multiple times in the SQL Statement it’s been used in. If the Scalar Function exists in the SELECT field list, then it executes once for every row returned. If the Scalar Function exists in the predicate, then it executes once for every row being analyzed. Consider the query below where the Scalar Function, dbo.fn_SumRangeOfNumbers() sums a range of numbers based on the two numbers being passed in. The query returns all rows where the sum of the range is less than 1500.

In this particular sample, the TableOfNumbers table contains ten rows and the query returns three rows (highlighted above). On the surface, the execution plan shows a simple SELECT statement for the query. The Scalar Function is represented by the Compute Scalar operator. In the property window for the Compute Scalar operator, it states that the Scalar Function was only executed one time. What you can’t see is what is “actually” happening behind the scenes. Let’s take a look at what is being obfuscated from the Execution Plan.

Under the Covers

Below I created an Extended Events session that captures each SQL statement that was executed for my query in my session. The blue row highlights the query that I wrote. Each execution of the Scalar Function is represented by the thirteen rows above it. Ten rows are for the Scalar Function in the WHERE statement, which was checking to see if the sum was below 1500 and three rows for the three rows that will be returned in the result set.

Let’s take a closer look at what is actually going on in the Scalar Function. Below you will see that the scalar function is summing rows from a tally table. So, there are 13 calls to another table that is not represented in the original execution plan. Furthermore, those queries have their own execution plan.

Can you imagine what would happen if there were a million rows in the table being used in the query? That would total to 1,300,001 SQL statements being executed for a result set of 300,000 rows with an execution plan showing a simple SELECT statement.

Note: A tally table is a narrow table of sequential numbers. It is also known as a numbers table. It is used to do set based logic in order to help find gaps in dates, Ids, or other numerical data. It can also be used to split delimited strings into a table or array and remove the need for cursors. Jeff Moden (b) wrote a fabulous article on tally tables. He shows how to create one and use it in queries.

How to Rewrite the Query

This query can be rewritten by using the CROSS APPLY join operator with a sub query. This will do two things: it will show that there is a second table being used in the Execution Plan and it will result in one query statement being executed.

If you look at the Properties of the Nested Loop, you will see that the Number of Executions is 1. You will also see that one SQL Statement was executed and captured during the Extended Events session.

When to Use Scalar Functions

Scalar Functions do have a use. They can be used to perform mathematical calculations or manipulate strings. The key is not to query tables or views in Scalar Functions. That is where the trouble begins.

In the query below, the Scalar Function is verifying that the casing is correct on any name passed to the scalar function, dbo.StandardNameFormat(). I then used the scalar function to correct the casing on the first and last names of my customer table. 

When I look at the execution plan, I still see the Compute Scalar operator, but when I look at the Extended Event session, I see only one SQL Statement executed. This is a much better use of Scalar Functions.

Conclusion

In this post I demonstrated how costly Scalar Functions can be and how to rewrite them so there aren’t multiple queries being run. I also showed how to properly use Scalar Functions. In my next post, I will write about the costs that can occur with using Multi-line Table Functions, and how to rewrite them to perform better.

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