EXECUTE (EXEC or EXECUTE IMMEDIATE) statement executes a dynamic SQL statement and can return the scalar result to local variables.

You can also use this statement to call a stored procedure.

Syntax:

EXEC | EXECUTE | EXECUTE IMMEDIATE dynamic_sql_string [INTO var1, var2, ...];
|
EXEC | EXECUTE proc_name [parm1 = val1, ... ]

Parameters:

Notes:

• If the query returns more than 1 row and the INTO clause is specified, only the columns from the first row are used in assignment
• If the statement returns 1 or more rows and the INTO clause is not specified, the result set data is sent to the standard output
• EXEC, EXECUTE are EXECUTE IMMEDIATE synonyms

Example:

Return the result into a variable:

DECLARE cnt INT;
EXECUTE 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM db.orders' INTO cnt;

Execute a DML statement:

DECLARE tabname VARCHAR(100) DEFAULT 'tab1';
EXECUTE IMMEDIATE 'CREATE TABLE ' || tabname || ' (c1 INT)';

Print the results to standard output:

EXEC 'SELECT ''A'', ''B'' FROM dual';

Call a stored procedure:

ALTER PROCEDURE spOrders
  @lim INT
AS
  DECLARE @cnt INT = 0
  SELECT @cnt = COUNT(*) from src LIMIT @lim
  IF @cnt > 0
    SELECT * FROM src
GO
 
EXEC spOrders @lim = 3

Compatibility: Oracle, IBM DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server.

Version:

• HPL/SQL 0.3.11 - Execute a stored procedure
• PL/HQL 0.01