SET NOEXEC (Transact-SQL)

Syntax

SET NOEXEC { ON | OFF }

Remarks

When SET NOEXEC is ON, SQL Server compiles each batch of Transact-SQL statements but does not execute them. When SET NOEXEC is OFF, all batches are executed after compilation.

The execution of statements in SQL Server has two phases: compilation and execution. This setting is useful for having SQL Server validate the syntax and object names in Transact-SQL code when executing. It is also useful for debugging statements that would generally be part of a larger batch of statements.

The setting of SET NOEXEC is set at execute or run time and not at parse time.

Permissions

Requires membership in the public role.

Examples

The following example uses NOEXEC with a valid query, a query with an object name that is not valid, and a query with incorrect syntax.

USE AdventureWorks2008R2;
GO
PRINT 'Valid query';
GO
-- SET NOEXEC to ON.
SET NOEXEC ON;
GO
-- Inner join.
SELECT e.BusinessEntityID, e.JobTitle, v.Name
FROM HumanResources.Employee AS e 
   INNER JOIN Purchasing.PurchaseOrderHeader AS poh
   ON e.BusinessEntityID = poh.EmployeeID
   INNER JOIN Purchasing.Vendor AS v
   ON poh.VendorID = v.BusinessEntityID;
GO
-- SET NOEXEC to OFF.
SET NOEXEC OFF;
GO

PRINT 'Invalid object name';
GO
-- SET NOEXEC to ON.
SET NOEXEC ON;
GO
-- Function name uses is a reserved keyword.
USE AdventureWorks2008R2;
GO
CREATE FUNCTION dbo.Values(@BusinessEntityID int)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN (SELECT PurchaseOrderID, TotalDue
   FROM dbo.PurchaseOrderHeader
   WHERE VendorID = @BusinessEntityID);
   
-- SET NOEXEC to OFF.
SET NOEXEC OFF;
GO

PRINT 'Invalid syntax';
GO
-- SET NOEXEC to ON.
SET NOEXEC ON;
GO
-- Built-in function incorrectly invoked.
SELECT *
FROM fn_helpcollations;
-- Reset SET NOEXEC to OFF.
SET NOEXEC OFF;
GO

See Also

Reference