I’m having trouble with a stored procedure in SQL Server 2008. It’s supposed to return different values for insert and update operations, but it’s not working as expected. Here’s what I want:
- Return 1 for inserts
- Return 2 for updates
The procedure inserts and updates correctly, but always returns 1. Here’s a simplified version of my code:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[SaveEmployeeInfo]
@empID int,
@name varchar(100),
@dept varchar(50)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @Result int;
IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM staff WHERE empID = @empID)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO staff (empID, name, dept)
VALUES (@empID, @name, @dept)
SET @Result = 1;
END
ELSE
BEGIN
UPDATE staff
SET name = @name, dept = @dept
WHERE empID = @empID
SET @Result = 2;
END
RETURN @Result;
END
What am I doing wrong? How can I make it return the correct value for each operation?
hey there! have you tried using SELECT instead of RETURN? i ran into a similar issue once. maybe something like this could work:
IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM staff WHERE empID = @empID)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO staff (empID, name, dept)
VALUES (@empID, @name, @dept)
SELECT 1 AS Result;
END
ELSE
BEGIN
UPDATE staff
SET name = @name, dept = @dept
WHERE empID = @empID
SELECT 2 AS Result;
END
what do you think? curious to hear if this helps!
I’ve encountered this issue before, and the problem lies with how SQL Server handles the RETURN statement in stored procedures. It’s not designed to return data in the way you’re trying to use it. Instead, I’d recommend using OUTPUT parameters or SELECT statements to return your result.
Here’s a modification that should work:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[SaveEmployeeInfo]
@empID int,
@name varchar(100),
@dept varchar(50),
@Result int OUTPUT
AS
BEGIN
IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM staff WHERE empID = @empID)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO staff (empID, name, dept)
VALUES (@empID, @name, @dept)
SET @Result = 1
END
ELSE
BEGIN
UPDATE staff
SET name = @name, dept = @dept
WHERE empID = @empID
SET @Result = 2
END
END
You can then call this procedure and retrieve the result using an OUTPUT parameter. This approach is more reliable and aligns better with SQL Server’s intended use of stored procedures.
yo Alex_Dynamo, i think i see the issue. RETURN doesn’t work like you expect in stored procs. try using SELECT instead:
IF NOT EXISTS(SELECT 1 FROM staff WHERE empID = @empID)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO staff (empID, name, dept)
VALUES (@empID, @name, @dept)
SELECT 1 AS Result;
END
ELSE
BEGIN
UPDATE staff
SET name = @name, dept = @dept
WHERE empID = @empID
SELECT 2 AS Result;
END
this should give you what you want. lemme know if it helps!