In-Line Function Property Page
(Microsoft SQL Server 2000 only.) Contains options for controlling the behavior of the in-line function you are building or modifying.
Function
Displays the name for the current function. If you have not yet saved the function, the default name is displayed. You cannot change the name in this box. To assign a name, choose Save or Save As from the File menu.
Output all columns
Specifies that all columns from all tables currently displayed will be in the function’s output. Choosing this option is equivalent to specifying an asterisk (*) in place of individual column names in the SQL pane.
DISTINCT values
Specifies that the query will filter out duplicate rows from the function’s output. This option is useful when you are using only some of the columns from a table and those columns might contain duplicate values, or when the process of joining two or more tables produces duplicate rows in the result set. Choosing this option is equivalent to inserting the word DISTINCT into the SELECT statement in the SQL pane.
Bind to Schema
Prevents all users (including you) from deleting or modifying the structure of database objects used by this function in any way that would invalidate the function’s definition.
GROUP BY extension
Specifies that additional options for in-line functions based on aggregate queries are available.
- WITH CUBE
Specifies that the aggregate query should produce summary values for groups specified in the GROUP BY clause. The groups are created by cross-referencing columns included in the GROUP BY clause, and then applying the query's aggregate function to produce summary values for the additional super-aggregate rows. The WITH CUBE option is multidimensional, creating summaries from all combinations of aggregate functions and columns in the query.
- WITH ROLLUP
Specifies that the aggregate query should produce summary values for the groups specified in the GROUP BY clause. The WITH ROLLUP option is similar to the WITH CUBE option, but creates only one type of summary for each combination of column and aggregate function.
- ALL
Specifies that the aggregate query will include any duplicate rows in the summary.
Owner
Shows the name of the function’s owner. The owner name is either a SQL Server role or SQL Server user. The drop-down list contains all the users and roles defined in the database. Within the drop-down list, the users and roles have different icons; the role icon shows two faces, the user icon shows only one.
TOP
(For SQL Server 7.0 or higher databases.) Specifies that the in-line function will include a TOP clause, which returns only the first n rows or first n percentage of rows in the result set. The default is that the function returns the first 10 rows in the result set.
Use this box to specify a different number of rows to return or to specify a percentage.
- PERCENT
(For SQL Server 7.0 or higher databases.) Specifies that the function will include a TOP clause, returning only the first n percentage of rows in the result set.
- WITH TIES
(For SQL Server 7.0 or higher databases.) Specifies that the function will include a WITH TIES clause. WITH TIES is useful if a function includes an ORDER BY clause and a TOP clause based on percentage. If this option is set, and if the percentage cutoff falls in the middle of a set of rows with identical values in the ORDER BY clause, the view is extended to include all such rows.
SQL Comment
To enter text in this field, you can type directly into the field, or you can enter a comment in the SQL pane. When you enter text directly into this field, you simply type the comment. But when you enter comment text in the SQL pane, you must use the comment delimiter characters. For example:
/* This is comment text entered in the SQL pane */
This is comment text entered directly in the SQL Comment field.
Description
(SQL Server 2000 only.)
This field is distinguished from the SQL Comment field in two ways. First, values of Description are stored in SQL Server as extended properties. Second, you cannot enter values of the Description from the SQL pane.