How to use SET NOCOUNT ON in SQL Server

Chittaranjan Swain

7y2.6k

Hi all,

How to use SET NOCOUNT ON and why to use in SQL Server .

8 Replies

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geetha velusamy4y ago
SET NO COUNT ON:

SET NO COUNT is ON the count is not returned.

Sample Query for SET NO COUNT ON:

SET NOCOUNT ON;
GO
SELECT [empid]
      ,[empname]
      ,[email]
      ,[address]
FROM [emp]

SET NO COUNT OFF:

SET NO COUNT is OFF it returns the count of rows affected.

Sample Query for SET NO COUNT OFF:

SET NOCOUNT OFF;
GO
SELECT [empid]
      ,[empname]
      ,[email]
      ,[address]
FROM [emp]

0
Vinitha T4y ago
SET NOCOUNT ON - This prevent to display number of row(s) affected and will display as Commands completed successfully in message tab

SET NOCOUNT OFF - This display number of row(s) affected.

0
Mageshwaran R6y ago
Hi,
Try this code:

SET NOCOUNT ON -(Auto generate column off)

SET NOCOUNT OFF-(Auto generate column on)
0
Subbarao A7y ago
Hi

SET NOCOUNT ON will tell SQL database engine do not return the count of rows effected in the query.

Try simple query to your tables

select * from yourtable

check the Messages tab in the query result window. Now try with NOCOUNT ON

SET NOCOUNT ON
select * from yourtable

check the Messages tab in the query result window
+1
Sivakumar Koneti7y ago
Read once

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1483732/set-nocount-on-usage
+1
Rajanikant Hawaldar7y ago
Hi Chittaranjan,
Sometimes even the simplest things can make a difference. One of these simple items that should be part of every stored procedure is SET NOCOUNT ON. This one line of code, put at the top of a stored procedure turns off the messages that SQL Server sends back to the client after each T-SQL statement is executed. This is performed for all SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements. Having this information is handy when you run a T-SQL statement in a query window, but when stored procedures are run there is no need for this information to be passed back to the client.

By removing this extra overhead from the network it can greatly improve overall performance for your database and application.

If you still need to get the number of rows affected by the T-SQL statement that is executing you can still use the @@ROWCOUNT option. By issuing a SET NOCOUNT ON this function (@@ROWCOUNT) still works and can still be used in your stored procedures to identify how many rows were affected by the statement.

Microsoft even realized the issue that this creates and has changed the stored procedure templates from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005.

Here is the old template style available in SQL Server 2000 without the SET NOCOUNT ON.

-- =============================================

-- Create procedure basic template

-- =============================================

-- creating the store procedure

IF EXISTS (SELECT name

FROM sysobjects

WHERE name = N' '

AND type = 'P')

DROP PROCEDURE

GO



CREATE PROCEDURE

<@param1, sysname, @p1> int> = ,

<@param2, sysname, @p2> int> =

AS

SELECT @p1, @p2

GO



-- =============================================

-- example to execute the store procedure

-- =============================================

EXECUTE ,

GO

Here is the new template style available in SQL Server 2005 with the SET NOCOUNT ON.

-- ================================================

-- Template generated from Template Explorer using:

-- Create Procedure (New Menu).SQL

--

-- Use the Specify Values for Template Parameters

-- command (Ctrl-Shift-M) to fill in the parameter

-- values below.

--

-- This block of comments will not be included in

-- the definition of the procedure.

-- ================================================

SET ANSI_NULLS ON

GO

SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON

GO

-- =============================================

-- Author:

-- Create date:

-- Description:

-- =============================================

CREATE PROCEDURE

-- Add the parameters for the stored procedure here

<@Param1, sysname, @p1> int> = ,

<@Param2, sysname, @p2> int> =

AS

BEGIN

-- SET NOCOUNT ON added to prevent extra result sets from

-- interfering with SELECT statements.

SET NOCOUNT ON;



-- Insert statements for procedure here

SELECT <@Param1, sysname, @p1>, <@Param2, sysname, @p2>

END

GO

As you can see even simple little things such as this can make an overall improvement for your database environment. Stay tuned for other simple tricks and techniques to improve performance.

Thanks
+1
Amit Mohanty7y ago
When we SET NOCOUNT is ON, the count (indicating the number of rows affected by a T-SQL statement) is not returned. When SET NOCOUNT is OFF, the count is returned. It is used with any SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE statement. SET NOCOUNT ON improves stored procedure performance.
Syntex:
SET NOCOUNT ON

OR

SET NOCOUNT OFF
For more details refers to below links

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/blogs/set-nocount-on-and-set-nocount-off-using-stored-procedure-in-sql-server

https://www.tutorialgateway.org/sql-set-nocount-on/

https://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/56506/sql-server-set-nocount-on-statement-with-examples/
+2
Madan Shekar7y ago
https://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/56506/sql-server-set-nocount-on-statement-with-examples/
+1