Variable declaration Database developers usually have one thing in common: They do not like to spend their time typing repetitive code. This can be eased somewhat by utilizing variable declarations. By making effective use of the system tables, you can quickly generate variable names on the metadata of a table.Assume you are writing a stored procedure that needs one variable defined for each column name. If this table is large, meaning it has many columns, you will find that you may spend a good deal of your time typing out variable names. Use the following statement to get a head start on your declarations for the pubs..authors table. We perform this with the string concatenation operator, the plus sign (+). SELECT�'@'�+�b.name�+�'�'�+�c.name�+�'('�+�CAST(b.length�AS�VARCHAR(5))+�'),�'�FROM�sysobjects�a,�syscolumns�b,�systypes�c� WHERE�a.id�=b.id� AND�a.name�=�'authors' AND�b.xtype�=�c.xtype This will output something like the following: (abbreviated for clarity) @contract�bit(1),� @phone�char(12),� @state�char(2),� @zip�char(5),� . . . With a little cleaning up and the addition of the DECLARE statement, you now have a valid set of variables that are ready to cut and paste into your stored procedure definition. DECLARE�@contract�bit,� ��������@phone�char(12),� ��������@state�char(2),� ��������@zip�char(5)� |