Common Language Runtime (CLR) Integration Programming Concepts

Beginning with SQL Server 2005, SQL Server features the integration of the common language runtime (CLR) component of the .NET Framework for Microsoft Windows. This means that you can now write stored procedures, triggers, user-defined types, user-defined functions, user-defined aggregates, and streaming table-valued functions, using any .NET Framework language, including Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C#.

The Microsoft.SqlServer.Server namespace includes core functionality for CLR programming in SQL Server. However, the Microsoft.SqlServer.Server namespace is documented in the .NET Framework SDK. This documentation is not included in SQL Server Books Online.

Important

By default, the .NET Framework is installed with SQL Server, but the .NET Framework SDK is not. Without the SDK installed on your computer and included in the Books Online collection, links to SDK content in this section do not work. Install the .NET Framework SDK. Once installed, add the SDK to the Books Online collection and table of contents by following the instructions in Downloading and Updating Books Online.

The following table lists the topics in this section.