Execute an SP from a trigger

  • Forgive what may be a stupid question; being self-taught there are huge gaps in my knowledge. I have an existing trigger in a repair order table that updates a vehicle table status field based on the changes in status to the repair order. That has been working well for many years. We have a vendor that will be maintaining their own list of vehicles, and they want me to execute a stored procedure on their server that will update their status field in a similar way. This is the last line of the existing trigger plus what I think I should add:

    UPDATE Car_records SET loc_status = @CarStatus WHERE car_no = @CarNum

    -- If @CarStatus = 'Released'

    -- Begin

    -- EXEC [BELL-CABMGR-SRV\CabManager].[CabManager].[dbo].Update_Vehicle_Shop_Status @CarNum, 1

    -- End

    -- Else

    -- Begin

    -- EXEC [BELL-CABMGR-SRV\CabManager].[CabManager].[dbo].Update_Vehicle_Shop_Status @CarNum, 0

    -- End

    If I run the EXEC line from SSMS it correctly updates the remote database, and I get the "1 record affected" message. Is the above the correct way to run this from a trigger, or do I have to account for the return value? Or am I completely off track? I'm not sure how to test a trigger to make sure changing it doesn't affect the existing application users.

  • pbaldy (2/26/2014)


    Forgive what may be a stupid question; being self-taught there are huge gaps in my knowledge. I have an existing trigger in a repair order table that updates a vehicle table status field based on the changes in status to the repair order. That has been working well for many years. We have a vendor that will be maintaining their own list of vehicles, and they want me to execute a stored procedure on their server that will update their status field in a similar way. This is the last line of the existing trigger plus what I think I should add:

    UPDATE Car_records SET loc_status = @CarStatus WHERE car_no = @CarNum

    -- If @CarStatus = 'Released'

    -- Begin

    -- EXEC [BELL-CABMGR-SRV\CabManager].[CabManager].[dbo].Update_Vehicle_Shop_Status @CarNum, 1

    -- End

    -- Else

    -- Begin

    -- EXEC [BELL-CABMGR-SRV\CabManager].[CabManager].[dbo].Update_Vehicle_Shop_Status @CarNum, 0

    -- End

    If I run the EXEC line from SSMS it correctly updates the remote database, and I get the "1 record affected" message. Is the above the correct way to run this from a trigger, or do I have to account for the return value? Or am I completely off track? I'm not sure how to test a trigger to make sure changing it doesn't affect the existing application users.

    If the code you posted above is in your trigger you need a major overhaul on your trigger. Anytime you see variables in a trigger in a sign of one of two things. Either you have a looping construct (while loop or cursor) to handle multiple rows or your trigger isn't set based and can't handle multiple rows. Either way is not good. Looping, especially in a cursor, is a performance timebomb. Not handling multiple rows in a trigger is also very bad because it will only get one value.

    Can you post the entire trigger instead of just a small snippet?

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  • Sure, the existing trigger is below. No cursor, and I can't imagine more than a single record being updated at a time. But being a novice I may have overlooked something.

    USE [CarMaint]

    GO

    /****** Object: Trigger [dbo].[UpdateVehStatus] Script Date: 02/26/2014 08:57:06 ******/

    SET ANSI_NULLS ON

    GO

    SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF

    GO

    ALTER TRIGGER [dbo].[UpdateVehStatus] ON [dbo].[tblRONumbers]

    FOR INSERT, UPDATE

    AS

    IF Update(ROStatus)

    Begin

    Declare @CarNum int, @status varchar(50), @CarStatus varchar(50), @MechBody varchar(1), @shop-2 varchar(10)

    SELECT @CarNum = Car_no FROM inserted

    SELECT @status = ROStatus FROM inserted

    SELECT @MechBody = MechBody FROM inserted

    If @MechBody = 'B'

    Begin

    Set @shop-2 = 'BodyShop'

    End

    Else

    Begin

    Set @shop-2 = 'Shop'

    End

    SELECT @CarStatus = Case @status

    When 'Assigned' Then @shop-2

    When 'Completed' Then 'Released' --changed from Ready 10/9/09

    When 'Dealer' Then 'Dealer'

    When 'Dispatch' Then @shop-2

    When 'TA' Then 'TA'

    When 'TA Insp' Then 'TA'

    When 'Unassigned' Then @shop-2

    When 'Waiting for parts' Then @shop-2

    When 'Part Hold' Then @shop-2

    When 'Part Rec' Then @shop-2

    When 'PMI' Then 'PMI'

    Else 'Unknown' End

    UPDATE Car_records SET loc_status = @CarStatus WHERE car_no = @CarNum

  • pbaldy (2/26/2014)


    Sure, the existing trigger is below. No cursor, and I can't imagine more than a single record being updated at a time. But being a novice I may have overlooked something.

    How about something as simple as "Change tblRONumbers so that all car numbers ending in 7 get changed". I have no idea what this table represents or the business behind it but there will be something somewhere that forces you to update or insert more than 1 row.

    Consider the real possibility of needing to import data from another table. The way you have this coded it will only update 1 row in the Car_records table.

    Here is how you could write this with no variables. This will work with a single row update. It will work just as well with a million row update.

    ALTER TRIGGER [dbo].[UpdateVehStatus] ON [dbo].[tblRONumbers]

    FOR INSERT, UPDATE

    AS

    IF Update(ROStatus)

    UPDATE cr

    SET loc_status =

    case i.ROStatus

    When 'Assigned' Then case MechBody when 'B' then 'BodyShop' else 'Shop' end

    When 'Completed' Then 'Released' --changed from Ready 10/9/09

    When 'Dealer' Then 'Dealer'

    When 'Dispatch' Then case MechBody when 'B' then 'BodyShop' else 'Shop' end

    When 'TA' Then 'TA'

    When 'TA Insp' Then 'TA'

    When 'Unassigned' Then case MechBody when 'B' then 'BodyShop' else 'Shop' end

    When 'Waiting for parts' Then case MechBody when 'B' then 'BodyShop' else 'Shop' end

    When 'Part Hold' Then case MechBody when 'B' then 'BodyShop' else 'Shop' end

    When 'Part Rec' Then case MechBody when 'B' then 'BodyShop' else 'Shop' end

    When 'PMI' Then 'PMI'

    Else 'Unknown'

    End

    from Car_records cr

    join inserted i on cr.car_no = i.Car_no

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    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

  • I appreciate the information and I'm always looking to improve. That said, it doesn't address my issue of executing a stored procedure on a linked server. I can't use the same method, as I don't have access to the tables, just the stored procedure.

  • pbaldy (2/26/2014)


    I appreciate the information and I'm always looking to improve. That said, it doesn't address my issue of executing a stored procedure on a linked server. I can't use the same method, as I don't have access to the tables, just the stored procedure.

    Ugh, my apologies. You have a couple of options. Does this data need to be on the other server instantly or can there be a delay?

    If a delay is ok I would recommend using the OUTPUT clause from the query I posted to insert the data into a staging/holding table. That will keep your trigger fast. Then you would need to create a stored proc to read the staging table row by row and call your remote proc. You could setup a job to call this proc at regular intervals depending on the needs.

    If this information MUST be updated real time you would have to either call your row by row proc in your trigger or do the row by row processing inside your trigger. Since this is calling a proc on a remote server you should wrap your call inside of a try/catch block.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Need help? Help us help you.

    Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.

    Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.

    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

  • There could be a delay, but it would be measured in minutes rather than hours. The status field is used to let dispatchers know whether they can give the vehicle to a driver. If it goes into the shop, they need to know not to give it out. Conversely, when it becomes available, they need to know.

    I will read up on the techniques you mention, as I haven't used them yet. Thanks for your help.

  • pbaldy (2/26/2014)


    There could be a delay, but it would be measured in minutes rather than hours. The status field is used to let dispatchers know whether they can give the vehicle to a driver. If it goes into the shop, they need to know not to give it out. Conversely, when it becomes available, they need to know.

    I will read up on the techniques you mention, as I haven't used them yet. Thanks for your help.

    The minutes delay would be a good fit for the batch type of processing. You would need to output enough information for the remote stored proc and maybe some auditing info. Maybe as simple as a DateProcessed column or something like that so you can clean out the queue at the end of the run. This would help make it less brittle. You could do something like update that column after the remote proc runs. Then at the end of your run you could delete all rows where that column is not null.

    If you run into any issues post back and we can dig deeper into your implementation and see if we can get it working for you.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Need help? Help us help you.

    Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.

    Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.

    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

  • Just wanted to say thanks Sean. I followed your recommendation and have a holding table populating from the trigger and a stored procedure that uses a cursor to loop the holding table and run the remote SP for each record. It also updates a field in the holding table. At the end it deletes from the holding table based on the updated field. All I have left is to schedule that SP, and I'm waiting to hear from management how often they want it to run.

  • pbaldy (2/26/2014)


    Just wanted to say thanks Sean. I followed your recommendation and have a holding table populating from the trigger and a stored procedure that uses a cursor to loop the holding table and run the remote SP for each record. It also updates a field in the holding table. At the end it deletes from the holding table based on the updated field. All I have left is to schedule that SP, and I'm waiting to hear from management how often they want it to run.

    Excellent. Sounds like a decent work around to keep your system running quickly. Glad you got it working and thanks for the update.

    _______________________________________________________________

    Need help? Help us help you.

    Read the article at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537/ for best practices on asking questions.

    Need to split a string? Try Jeff Modens splitter http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Tally+Table/72993/.

    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 1 – Converting Rows to Columns - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/T-SQL/63681/
    Cross Tabs and Pivots, Part 2 - Dynamic Cross Tabs - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Crosstab/65048/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69953/
    Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 2) - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/APPLY/69954/

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