tsql : How to assign a select result to a variable ?

Question

Question: How do I store a selected field value into a variable from a query and use it in an update statement?

Here is my procedure:

I'm writing a sql server 2005 tsql stored procedure which does the following: 
1.  gets list of invoices id's from invoice table and stores to Cursor 
2.  Fetch invoice id from cursor -> tmp_key variable 
3.  foreach tmp_key finds invoice client primary contact id from customer table
4.  updates the client contact key with primary contact id 
5.  close cursor

Here is my code:

DECLARE @tmp_key int
DECLARE @get_invckey cursor 

set @get_invckey = CURSOR FOR 
    select invckey from tarinvoice where confirmtocntctkey is null and tranno like '%115876'

OPEN @get_invckey 

FETCH NEXT FROM @get_invckey into @tmp_key

WHILE (@@FETCH_STATUS = 0) 
BEGIN 
    SELECT c.PrimaryCntctKey as PrimaryContactKey
    from tarcustomer c, tarinvoice i
    where i.custkey = c.custkey and i.invckey = @tmp_key

    UPDATE tarinvoice set confirmtocntctkey = PrimaryContactKey where invckey = @tmp_key
    FETCH NEXT FROM @get_invckey INTO @tmp_key
END 

CLOSE @get_invckey
DEALLOCATE @get_invckey

how do I store the PrimaryContactKey and use again in the set clause of the following update statement? Do I create a cursor variable or just another local variable with an int type?

thanks in advance

Answer 1

Try This

SELECT @PrimaryContactKey = c.PrimaryCntctKey
FROM tarcustomer c, tarinvoice i
WHERE i.custkey = c.custkey 
    AND i.invckey = @tmp_key

UPDATE tarinvoice SET confirmtocntctkey = @PrimaryContactKey 
WHERE invckey = @tmp_key
FETCH NEXT FROM @get_invckey INTO @tmp_key

You would declare this variable outside of your loop as just a standard TSQL variable.

I should also note that this is how you would do it for any type of select into a variable, not just when dealing with cursors.

Answer 2

DECLARE @tmp_key int
DECLARE @get_invckey cursor 

set @get_invckey = CURSOR FOR 
    select invckey from tarinvoice where confirmtocntctkey is null and tranno like '%115876'

OPEN @get_invckey 

FETCH NEXT FROM @get_invckey into @tmp_key

DECLARE @PrimaryContactKey int --or whatever datatype it is

WHILE (@@FETCH_STATUS = 0) 
BEGIN 
    SELECT @PrimaryContactKey=c.PrimaryCntctKey
    from tarcustomer c, tarinvoice i
    where i.custkey = c.custkey and i.invckey = @tmp_key

    UPDATE tarinvoice set confirmtocntctkey = @PrimaryContactKey where invckey = @tmp_key
    FETCH NEXT FROM @get_invckey INTO @tmp_key
END 

CLOSE @get_invckey
DEALLOCATE @get_invckey

Answer 3

Cursors are great and all, but once the data gets bigger that cursor is going to slow down tremendiously.

Answer 4

Why do you need a cursor at all? Your entire segment of code can be replaced by this, which will run a lot faster on large numbers of rows.

UPDATE tarinvoice set confirmtocntctkey = PrimaryCntctKey 
FROM tarinvoice INNER JOIN tarcustomer ON tarinvoice.custkey = tarcustomer.custkey
WHERE confirmtocntctkey is null and tranno like '%115876'