SQL Server Functions: A Comprehensive

Guide

Dr M AOUDE

February 4, 2025

Contents
1 Introduction to SQL Server Functions 3
1.1 Key Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Introduction to SQL Server Functions 3

3 Types of SQL Server Functions 3

3.1 Built-in Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1.1 Aggregate Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.1.2 Date and Time Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1.3 String Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 User-Dened Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.1 Scalar Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2.2 Inline Table-Valued Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4 Types of SQL Server Functions 5
4.1 Built-in Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1.1 Aggregate Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1.2 Date and Time Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1.3 String Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.1.4 Mathematical Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.1.5 Ranking Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2 User-Dened Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2.1 Scalar Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2.2 Inline Table-Valued Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2.3 Multi-Statement Table-Valued Functions . . . . . . . . 8
5 CLR Functions 9
5.1 Enable CLR Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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6 CLR Functions 9
6.1 Enabling CLR Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6.2 Example CLR Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7 Deterministic vs Nondeterministic Functions 10
7.1 Deterministic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7.2 Nondeterministic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8 Deterministic vs Nondeterministic Functions 10
8.1 Deterministic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8.2 Nondeterministic Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
9 Best Practices 11
9.1 Performance Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
9.2 Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
10 Best Practices 11
10.1 Schema Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
10.2 Error Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
10.3 Performance Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
11 Conclusion 12
11.1 Example CLR Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
12 Key Takeaways 13

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 1 Introduction to SQL Server Functions
A function in SQL Server is a reusable code module that accepts parameters
and returns a value or result set. Unlike stored procedures, functions can be
used within SELECT statements and WHERE clauses.

1.1 Key Characteristics

ˆ Always returns a value or result set

ˆ Can be used in SELECT statements and WHERE clauses

ˆ Stored as an object in the database

ˆ Can accept parameters

Note
Unlike stored procedures, functions must be called without EXE-
CUTE keyword and must return a value.

2 Introduction to SQL Server Functions

A function in SQL Server is a reusable code module that accepts parameters
and returns a value or result set. Unlike stored procedures, functions can be
used within SELECT statements and WHERE clauses. Here's a key dierence:
1 -- Using a function
2 SELECT FirstName, LastName, dbo.CalculateAge(BirthDate) AS Age
3 FROM Employees;
4
5 -- Using a stored procedure (requires EXECUTE)
6 EXECUTE GetEmployeeAge @EmployeeID = 1;

3 Types of SQL Server Functions

3.1 Built-in Functions
3.1.1 Aggregate Functions

These functions perform calculations across a set of rows:

1 SELECT
2 COUNT(*) AS TotalEmployees,
3 AVG(Salary) AS AverageSalary,
4 MAX(Salary) AS HighestSalary,
5 MIN(Salary) AS LowestSalary,

3
 6 SUM(Salary) AS TotalPayroll
7 FROM Employees;

3.1.2 Date and Time Functions

Functions for manipulating date and time values:

1 SELECT
2 GETDATE() AS CurrentDateTime,
3 DATEADD(YEAR, 1, GETDATE()) AS OneYearFromNow,
4 DATEDIFF(YEAR, '1990-01-01', GETDATE())
5 AS YearsSince1990,
6 DATEPART(MONTH, GETDATE()) AS CurrentMonth,
7 EOMONTH(GETDATE()) AS LastDayOfMonth;

3.1.3 String Functions

Functions for string manipulation:

1 SELECT
2 SUBSTRING('Hello World', 1, 5) AS FirstWord,
3 LEFT('Hello World', 5) AS LeftFive,
4 RIGHT('Hello World', 5) AS RightFive,
5 LEN('Hello World') AS StringLength,
6 REPLACE('Hello World', 'Hello', 'Hi')
7 AS ReplacedString;

3.2 User-Dened Functions

3.2.1 Scalar Functions

Returns a single value based on the input parameters:

1 CREATE FUNCTION CalculateAge
2 (
3 @BirthDate DATE
4 )
5 RETURNS INT
6 WITH SCHEMABINDING
7 AS
8 BEGIN
9 RETURN DATEDIFF(YEAR, @BirthDate, GETDATE()) -
10 CASE
11 WHEN (MONTH(@BirthDate) > MONTH(GETDATE()))
12 OR (MONTH(@BirthDate) = MONTH(GETDATE())
13 AND DAY(@BirthDate) > DAY(GETDATE()))
14 THEN 1
15 ELSE 0

4
16 END
17 END;

3.2.2 Inline Table-Valued Functions

Returns a table result set:

1 CREATE FUNCTION GetEmployeesByDepartment
2 (
3 @DepartmentID INT
4 )
5 RETURNS TABLE
6 AS
7 RETURN
8 (
9 SELECT
10 EmployeeID,
11 FirstName,
12 LastName,
13 Salary
14 FROM
15 Employees
16 WHERE
17 DepartmentID = @DepartmentID
18 );

4 Types of SQL Server Functions

4.1 Built-in Functions
4.1.1 Aggregate Functions

These functions perform calculations across sets of rows:

1 SELECT
2 COUNT(*) AS TotalEmployees,
3 AVG(Salary) AS AverageSalary,
4 MAX(Salary) AS HighestSalary,
5 MIN(Salary) AS LowestSalary,
6 SUM(Salary) AS TotalPayroll
7 FROM Employees;

4.1.2 Date and Time Functions

Functions for manipulating date and time values:

1 SELECT
2 GETDATE() AS CurrentDateTime,

5
3 DATEADD(YEAR, 1, GETDATE()) AS OneYearFromNow,
4 DATEDIFF(YEAR, '1990-01-01', GETDATE()) AS YearsSince1990,
5 DATEPART(MONTH, GETDATE()) AS CurrentMonth,
6 EOMONTH(GETDATE()) AS LastDayOfMonth;

4.1.3 String Functions

Functions for string manipulation:

1 SELECT
2 SUBSTRING('Hello World', 1, 5) AS FirstWord,
3 LEFT('Hello World', 5) AS LeftFive,
4 RIGHT('Hello World', 5) AS RightFive,
5 LEN('Hello World') AS StringLength,
6 REPLACE('Hello World', 'Hello', 'Hi') AS ReplacedString;

4.1.4 Mathematical Functions

Functions for numerical calculations:

1 SELECT
2 ABS(-42) AS AbsoluteValue,
3 POWER(2, 3) AS TwoToThirdPower,
4 SQRT(16) AS SquareRoot,
5 ROUND(3.14159, 2) AS RoundedPi,
6 CEILING(3.1) AS CeilingValue,
7 FLOOR(3.9) AS FloorValue;

4.1.5 Ranking Functions

Functions for ranking rows within result sets:

1 SELECT
2 EmployeeName,
3 Salary,
4 ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY Salary DESC) AS SalaryRank,
5 DENSE_RANK() OVER (ORDER BY Salary DESC) AS DenseRank,
6 NTILE(4) OVER (ORDER BY Salary DESC) AS Quartile
7 FROM Employees;

4.2 User-Dened Functions

4.2.1 Scalar Functions

Functions that return a single value:

6
 1 -- Create a function to calculate age
2 CREATE FUNCTION CalculateAge
3 (
4 @BirthDate DATE
5 )
6 RETURNS INT
7 WITH SCHEMABINDING
8 AS
9 BEGIN
10 RETURN DATEDIFF(YEAR, @BirthDate, GETDATE()) -
11 CASE
12 WHEN (MONTH(@BirthDate) > MONTH(GETDATE())) OR
13 (MONTH(@BirthDate) = MONTH(GETDATE()) AND
14 DAY(@BirthDate) > DAY(GETDATE()))
15 THEN 1
16 ELSE 0
17 END
18 END;
19
20 -- Use the function
21 SELECT
22 FirstName,
23 LastName,
24 BirthDate,
25 dbo.CalculateAge(BirthDate) AS Age
26 FROM Employees;

4.2.2 Inline Table-Valued Functions

Functions that return a table result set:

1 -- Create a function that returns employees by department
2 CREATE FUNCTION GetEmployeesByDepartment
3 (
4 @DepartmentID INT
5 )
6 RETURNS TABLE
7 AS
8 RETURN
9 (
10 SELECT
11 EmployeeID,
12 FirstName,
13 LastName,
14 Salary
15 FROM
16 Employees
17 WHERE

7
18 DepartmentID = @DepartmentID
19 );
20
21 -- Use the function
22 SELECT * FROM dbo.GetEmployeesByDepartment(5);

4.2.3 Multi-Statement Table-Valued Functions

Functions that use multiple statements to return a table:

1 CREATE FUNCTION GetEmployeePerformance
2 (
3 @Year INT
4 )
5 RETURNS @Results TABLE
6 (
7 EmployeeID INT,
8 EmployeeName NVARCHAR(100),
9 SalesTotal DECIMAL(18,2),
10 CommissionEarned DECIMAL(18,2)
11 )
12 AS
13 BEGIN
14 INSERT INTO @Results
15 SELECT
16 E.EmployeeID,
17 E.FirstName + ' ' + E.LastName,
18 SUM(S.SaleAmount),
19 SUM(S.SaleAmount * E.CommissionRate)
20 FROM
21 Employees E
22 JOIN Sales S ON E.EmployeeID = S.EmployeeID
23 WHERE
24 YEAR(S.SaleDate) = @Year
25 GROUP BY
26 E.EmployeeID, E.FirstName, E.LastName,
27 E.CommissionRate;
28
29 RETURN;
30 END;
31
32 -- Use the function
33 SELECT * FROM dbo.GetEmployeePerformance(2023);

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 5 CLR Functions
5.1 Enable CLR Support
Before using CLR functions, enable CLR support on the server:
1 sp_configure 'clr_enabled', 1;
2 GO
3 RECONFIGURE;
4 GO

6 CLR Functions
6.1 Enabling CLR Support
Before using CLR functions, enable CLR support on the server:
1 sp_configure 'clr_enabled', 1;
2 GO
3 RECONFIGURE;
4 GO

6.2 Example CLR Function

Here's an example of a CLR function written in C#:
1 using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;
2 using System.Data.SqlTypes;
3
4 public partial class UserDefinedFunctions
5 {
6 [SqlFunction(IsDeterministic = true)]
7 public static SqlDouble CalculateDistance
8 (
9 SqlDouble latitude1,
10 SqlDouble longitude1,
11 SqlDouble latitude2,
12 SqlDouble longitude2
13 )
14 {
15 // Implementation here
16 return new SqlDouble(/* result */);
17 }
18 }

9
 7 Deterministic vs Nondeterministic Functions
7.1 Deterministic Functions
Functions that always return the same result for the same input:
1 CREATE FUNCTION SquareNumber(@num INT)
2 RETURNS INT
3 WITH SCHEMABINDING
4 AS
5 BEGIN
6 RETURN @num * @num
7 END;

7.2 Nondeterministic Functions

Functions that may return dierent results for the same input:
1 CREATE FUNCTION GenerateRandomPrice
2 (
3 @BasePrice DECIMAL(18,2)
4 )
5 RETURNS DECIMAL(18,2)
6 AS
7 BEGIN
8 RETURN @BasePrice * (1 + (RAND() * 0.2))
9 END;

8 Deterministic vs Nondeterministic Functions

8.1 Deterministic Functions
Functions that always return the same result for the same input:
1 CREATE FUNCTION SquareNumber
2 (
3 @num INT
4 )
5 RETURNS INT
6 WITH SCHEMABINDING
7 AS
8 BEGIN
9 RETURN @num * @num;
10 END;

10
 8.2 Nondeterministic Functions
Functions that may return dierent results for the same input:
1 -- Built-in nondeterministic function
2 SELECT GETDATE();
3
4 -- Custom nondeterministic function
5 CREATE FUNCTION GenerateRandomPrice
6 (
7 @BasePrice DECIMAL(18,2)
8 )
9 RETURNS DECIMAL(18,2)
10 AS
11 BEGIN
12 RETURN @BasePrice * (1 + (RAND() * 0.2));
13 END;

9 Best Practices
9.1 Performance Considerations
ˆ Use schema binding when possible

ˆ Prefer inline table-valued functions over multi-statement

ˆ Be cautious with CLR functions in heavy-use scenarios

ˆ Consider indexing implications for deterministic functions

9.2 Security Considerations

ˆ Use appropriate EXECUTE AS context

ˆ Consider encryption for sensitive logic

ˆ Grant minimum required permissions

10 Best Practices
10.1 Schema Binding
Use schema binding when possible to improve performance and maintain-
ability:
1 CREATE FUNCTION dbo.GetFullName
2 (
3 @FirstName NVARCHAR(50),
4 @LastName NVARCHAR(50)

11
 5 )
6 RETURNS NVARCHAR(101)
7 WITH SCHEMABINDING
8 AS
9 BEGIN
10 RETURN @FirstName + ' ' + @LastName;
11 END;

10.2 Error Handling

Implement proper error handling in functions:
1 CREATE FUNCTION dbo.DivideNumbers
2 (
3 @Numerator DECIMAL(18,2),
4 @Denominator DECIMAL(18,2)
5 )
6 RETURNS DECIMAL(18,2)
7 WITH SCHEMABINDING
8 AS
9 BEGIN
10 IF @Denominator = 0
11 RETURN NULL;
12
13 RETURN @Numerator / @Denominator;
14 END;

10.3 Performance Considerations

Choose the appropriate function type for optimal performance:
1 -- Good: Use inline table-valued functions instead of
2 -- multi-statement when possible
3 CREATE FUNCTION GetActiveEmployees()
4 RETURNS TABLE
5 AS
6 RETURN
7 (
8 SELECT *
9 FROM Employees
10 WHERE Status = 'Active'
11 );

11 Conclusion
SQL Server functions are powerful tools for:

12
 ˆ Code reusability
ˆ Data consistency
ˆ Performance optimization
ˆ Business logic implementation
When used correctly, they can signicantly improve database design and
application performance.

11.1 Example CLR Function

Example of a CLR function written in C#:
1 using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;
2 using System.Data.SqlTypes;
3
4 public partial class UserDefinedFunctions
5 {
6 [SqlFunction(IsDeterministic = true)]
7 public static SqlDouble CalculateDistance
8 (
9 SqlDouble latitude1,
10 SqlDouble longitude1,
11 SqlDouble latitude2,
12 SqlDouble longitude2
13 )
14 {
15 // Haversine formula implementation
16 // Returns distance in kilometers
17 return new SqlDouble(0.0); // Placeholder return
18 }
19 }

12 Key Takeaways
ˆ Functions must always return a value
ˆ They can be used in SELECT statements and WHERE clauses
ˆ Schema binding helps with performance and maintainability
ˆ Inline table-valued functions generally perform better than multi-statement
ones
ˆ Be cautious with nondeterministic functions in computed columns or
indexes
ˆ CLR functions are ideal for complex calculations or external operations

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