Calling Table-Valued SQL Functions From .NET

Question

Scalar-valued functions can be called from .NET as follows:

SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("testFunction", sqlConn); //testFunction is scalar
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;  
cmd.Parameters.Add("retVal", SqlDbType.Int);
cmd.Parameters["retVal"].Direction = ParameterDirection.ReturnValue;
cmd.ExecuteScalar();
int aFunctionResult = (int)cmd.Parameters["retVal"].Value;

I also know that table-valued functions can be called in a similar fashion, for example:

String query = "select * from testFunction(param1,...)"; //testFunction is table-valued
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(query, sqlConn);
SqlDataAdapter adapter = new SqlDataAdapter(cmd);
adapter.Fill(tbl);

My question is, can table-valued functions be called as stored procedures, like scalar-valued functions can? (e.g., replicate my first code snippet with a table-valued function being called and getting the returned table through a ReturnValue parameter).

Answer 1

No because you need to select them. However you can create a stored proc wrapper. Which may defeat the point of having a table function.