[tsql] How to get sp_executesql result into a variable?

I have a piece of dynamic SQL I need to execute, I then need to store the result into a variable.

I know I can use sp_executesql but can't find clear examples around about how to do this.

Declare @variable int
Exec @variable = proc_name

DECLARE @ValueTable TABLE
    (
    Value VARCHAR (100)
    )

SELECT @sql = N'SELECT SRS_SizeSetDetails.'+@COLUMN_NAME+' FROM SRS_SizeSetDetails WHERE FSizeID = '''+@FSizeID+''' AND SRS_SizeSetID = '''+@SRS_SizeSetID+'''';

INSERT INTO @ValueTable
EXEC sp_executesql @sql;

SET @Value='';

SET @Value = (SELECT TOP 1  Value FROM @ValueTable)

DELETE FROM @ValueTable

DECLARE @vi INT
DECLARE @vQuery NVARCHAR(1000)

SET @vQuery = N'SELECT @vi= COUNT(*) FROM <TableName>'

EXEC SP_EXECUTESQL 
        @Query  = @vQuery
      , @Params = N'@vi INT OUTPUT'
      , @vi = @vi OUTPUT

SELECT @vi

Return values are generally not used to "return" a result but to return success (0) or an error number (1-65K). The above all seem to indicate that sp_executesql does not return a value, which is not correct. sp_executesql will return 0 for success and any other number for failure.

In the below, @i will return 2727

DECLARE @s NVARCHAR(500)
DECLARE @i INT;
SET @s = 'USE [Blah]; UPDATE STATISTICS [dbo].[TableName] [NonExistantStatisticsName];';
EXEC @i = sys.sp_executesql @s
SELECT @i AS 'Blah'

SSMS will show this Msg 2727, Level 11, State 1, Line 1 Cannot find index 'NonExistantStaticsName'.

If you want to return more than 1 value use this:

DECLARE @sqlstatement2      NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE @retText            NVARCHAR(MAX);  
DECLARE @ParmDefinition     NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE @retIndex           INT = 0;

SELECT @sqlstatement = 'SELECT @retIndexOUT=column1 @retTextOUT=column2 FROM XXX WHERE bla bla';

SET @ParmDefinition = N'@retIndexOUT INT OUTPUT, @retTextOUT NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT';

exec sp_executesql @sqlstatement, @ParmDefinition, @retIndexOUT=@retIndex OUTPUT, @retTextOUT=@retText OUTPUT;

returned values are in @retIndex and @retText

This was a long time ago, so not sure if this is still needed, but you could use @@ROWCOUNT variable to see how many rows were affected with the previous sql statement.

This is helpful when for example you construct a dynamic Update statement and run it with exec. @@ROWCOUNT would show how many rows were updated.

Here is the definition

DECLARE @tab AS TABLE (col1 VARCHAR(10), col2 varchar(10)) 
INSERT into @tab EXECUTE  sp_executesql N'
SELECT 1 AS col1, 2 AS col2
UNION ALL
SELECT 1 AS col1, 2 AS col2
UNION ALL
SELECT 1 AS col1, 2 AS col2'

SELECT * FROM @tab

Here's something you can try

DECLARE  @SqlStatement  NVARCHAR(MAX) = ''
       ,@result     XML
       ,@DatabaseName  VARCHAR(100)
       ,@SchemaName    VARCHAR(10)
       ,@ObjectName    VARCHAR(200);

SELECT   @DatabaseName = 'some database'
       ,@SchemaName   = 'some schema'
       ,@ObjectName   = 'some object (Table/View)'

SET @SqlStatement = '
                    SELECT @result = CONVERT(XML,
                                            STUFF( ( SELECT *
                                                     FROM 
                                                       (
                                                          SELECT TOP(100) 
                                                          * 
                                                          FROM ' + QUOTENAME(@DatabaseName) +'.'+ QUOTENAME(@SchemaName) +'.' + QUOTENAME(@ObjectName) + '
                                                       ) AS A1 
                                                    FOR XML PATH(''row''), ELEMENTS, ROOT(''recordset'')
                                                 ), 1, 0, '''')
                                       )
                ';

EXEC sp_executesql @SqlStatement,N'@result XML OUTPUT', @result = @result OUTPUT;

SELECT DISTINCT
    QUOTENAME(r.value('fn:local-name(.)', 'VARCHAR(200)')) AS ColumnName
FROM @result.nodes('//recordset/*/*') AS records(r)
ORDER BY ColumnName

This worked for me:

DECLARE @SQL NVARCHAR(4000)

DECLARE @tbl Table (
    Id int,
    Account varchar(50),
    Amount int
) 

-- Lots of code to Create my dynamic sql statement

insert into @tbl EXEC sp_executesql @SQL

select * from @tbl