December 18, 2006 at 1:23 pm
>> A complex statement is difficult to read when it is pieced together with a bunch of CHAR, CAST, and CONVERT fuctions.
I disagree. I think it is easier to read considering I don't have to go to another part of the procedure and find the Replace statements to figure out what someone is trying to do with a particular portion of the dynamic statement.
Of course, the best solution to the nvarchar 4000 character limit is to use nvarchar(max) in SQL Server 2005.
December 18, 2006 at 6:34 pm
The "best" solution is not to use dynamic sql unless there is absolutely no other way to accomplish the desired result.
Dynamic sql is a total pain to maintain. I've slogged through other people's dynamic code and many times found a better way.
If you must write dynamic sql, you should embed a sample of the resulting sql statement in the sp, to help illustrate what's going on. A very simple example of that would be:
-- use the next invoice # as the seed, might look like:
-- ALTER TABLE tblFM_MPI ADD InvoiceNumber int IDENTITY (45969, 1)
SET @sql = N'ALTER TABLE tblFM_MPI DROP COLUMN InvoiceNumber'
EXEC ( @sql )
SET @sql = N'ALTER TABLE tblFM_MPI ADD InvoiceNumber int IDENTITY (' + CAST(@NextInv AS varchar(6)) + ', 1)'
EXEC ( @sql )
December 18, 2006 at 7:37 pm
On a related note, we have a project in development for our internal account managers and tech support team to be able to run any select query they want against our databases to help them resolve issues. The devloper asked me how she could go about making sure they didn't inadvertantly perform some query other than a select. My reply was to create a user account that had all privelages denied except for select and execute the procedure as that user account. Bear in mind that the AM's and tech support will be using a web app that is using an account whose only rights is to execute stored procedures.
This is the real code that was finally used, but is the initial test code I sent to the developer for testing how it would work. Bear in mind that this is SQL 2005 code.
Use
master
-- Create server login for test
Create
Login DBDataReaderOnly With Password = 'PeasPorridgeCold'
Use
DemoDatabase
-- Create database user for login
Create
User DBDataReader For Login DBDataReaderOnly With Default_Schema = dbo
-- Create databse role for easy assignment of permissions
Create
Role db_DataReaderOnly
-- Grant select rights
Grant
Select To db_DataReaderOnly
-- Deny all other permissions
Deny
Execute, Insert, Update, Delete, References, Alter, Take Ownership, View Definition To db_DataReaderOnly
-- Assign user to the database role
Exec
sp_addrolemember 'db_DataReaderOnly', 'DBDataReader'
Go
-- Create a test procedure
Create
Procedure dbo.USP_DynamicDataTest
@SQL
nvarchar(max)
With
Execute As 'DBDataReader'
As
Exec
sp_executesql @SQL
Go
-- Test new account, run each command individually
Exec
dbo.USP_DynamicDataTest @SQL = 'Select * From TestTable with(nolock)'
Exec
dbo.USP_DynamicDataTest @SQL = 'Delete Top (1) From TestTable'
Exec
dbo.USP_DynamicDataTest @SQL = 'Drop Table TestTable'
January 8, 2008 at 11:38 am
Does anyone actually test this code or is most of this stuff just rumors?
According to most of the information I should be able to create multiple variables...
DECLARE @SELECT varchar(100)
DECLARE @FROM varchar(100)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL1 varchar(8000)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL2 varchar(8000)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL3 varchar(8000)
SET @SELECT = 'SELECT '
SET @FROM = 'FROM DATA_SOURCE'
EXEC (@SELECT + @DynamicSQL1 + @DynamicSQL2 + @DynamicSQL3 + @FROM)
The exec statement only accesses the first 8000 characters and then shuts down.
What am I missing/
January 8, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Seems to work for me in both SQL 2000 and SQL 2005. This code creates a 16,000+ character command that returns 16 996-char fields and one 3-char field as results.
DECLARE @v1 VARCHAR(8000), @v2 VARCHAR(8000)
SET @v1 = '''' + LEFT(REPLICATE('1234567890', 100), 996) + ''', '
SET @v2 = REPLICATE(@v1, 8)
SET @v1 = @v2
EXEC ('SELECT ' + @v1 + @v2 + '''xyz''')
Maybe there's a syntax error in your command.
January 8, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Thank you for the quick reply and yes, I tested your code and it works fine on my system so, in theory, I should have a syntax error.
Taking my example below, I mad a change...all the way down, the first exec line fails and the second exec line works. I am at a loss as to why.
DECLARE @SELECT varchar(100)
DECLARE @FROM varchar(100)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL1 varchar(8000)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL2 varchar(8000)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL3 varchar(8000)
SET @SELECT = 'SELECT '
SET @FROM = 'FROM DATA_SOURCE'
EXEC (@SELECT + @DynamicSQL1 + @DynamicSQL2 + @DynamicSQL3 + @FROM)
EXEC (@SELECT +''+ @DynamicSQL1 +''+ @DynamicSQL2 +''+ @DynamicSQL3 +''+ @FROM)
January 8, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I made extensive use of stored procedures that created temporary stored procedures for reporting in a data mart application. This reason I did this was because there could be literally hundreds of different variations of the same basic report summarized along different dimensions and levels. The input parameters to the stored procedure specified the grouping/sorting levels that were required, and the stored procedure used that to generate the code.
It was easier to write one fairly complex procedure than it was to create hundreds of almost identical, simpler procedures for the different variations in the reports. The biggest advantage was that if there was a bug, I only had to fix it in one procedure instead of hundreds.
January 8, 2008 at 4:27 pm
markybse (1/8/2008)
... the first exec line fails and the second exec line works. I am at a loss as to why.DECLARE @SELECT varchar(100)
DECLARE @FROM varchar(100)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL1 varchar(8000)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL2 varchar(8000)
DECLARE @DynamicSQL3 varchar(8000)
SET @SELECT = 'SELECT '
SET @FROM = 'FROM DATA_SOURCE'
EXEC (@SELECT + @DynamicSQL1 + @DynamicSQL2 + @DynamicSQL3 + @FROM)
EXEC (@SELECT +''+ @DynamicSQL1 +''+ @DynamicSQL2 +''+ @DynamicSQL3 +''+ @FROM)
1. The @DynamicSQL# variables need an interceding space in order for their concatenation to result in syntactically correct SQL.
Try:
EXEC (@SELECT + ' ' + @DynamicSQL1 + ' ' + @DynamicSQL2 + ' ' + @DynamicSQL3 + ' ' + @FROM)
2. You are trying to concatenate Null values. The solution would be to recast the @DynamicSQL# as a space if the value is Null.
January 9, 2008 at 8:16 am
I believe that the second portion, "trying to concactinate NULL values" could be a good start in finding out why it is not working. Thanks again.
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