SQL Server - where is “sys.functions”?

Question

SQL Server 2005 has great sys.XXX views on the system catalog which I use frequently.

What stumbles me is this: why is there a "sys.procedures" view to see info about your stored procedures, but there is no "sys.functions" view to see the same for your stored functions?

Doesn't anybody use stored functions? I find them very handy for e.g. computed columns and such!

Is there a specific reason sys.functions is missing, or is it just something that wasn't considered important enough to put into the sys catalog views?? Is it available in SQL Server 2008??

Cheers, Marc

Answer 1

I find UDFs are very handy and I use them all the time.

I'm not sure what Microsoft's rationale is for not including a sys.functions equivalent in SQL Server 2005 (or SQL Server 2008, as far as I can tell), but it's easy enough to roll your own:

CREATE VIEW my_sys_functions_equivalent
AS
SELECT *
FROM sys.objects
WHERE type IN ('FN', 'IF', 'TF')  -- scalar, inline table-valued, table-valued

Answer 2

Another way to list functions is to make use of INFORMATION_SCHEMA views.

SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.ROUTINES WHERE ROUTINE_TYPE = 'FUNCTION'

According to the Microsoft web site "Information schema views provide an internal, system table-independent view of the SQL Server metadata. Information schema views enable applications to work correctly although significant changes have been made to the underlying system tables". In other words, the underlying System tables may change as SQL gets upgraded, but the views should still remain the same.

Answer 3

This is valid in 2008 R2 per what SSMS generates when you script a DROP of a function:

SELECT  *
FROM    sys.objects
WHERE   type IN (N'FN', N'IF', N'TF', N'FS', N'FT') ;

/*
From http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177596.aspx:
 FN SQL_SCALAR_FUNCTION
 FS Assembly (CLR) scalar-function
 FT Assembly (CLR) table-valued function
 IF SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
 TF SQL_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
*/

Answer 4

It's very slightly more verbose, but this should do exactly the same thing:

select * from sys.objects where (type='TF' or type='FN')

As far as I can see, it's not in SQL Server 2008 either.

Answer 5

This does not add anything new, but I found the following easier to remember:

select * from sys.objects where type_desc like '%fun%'

Answer 6

try this :

SELECT * FROM sys.objects
where type_desc = 'SQL_SCALAR_FUNCTION'

Answer 7

incidentally, wouldn't you want to include type = 'FS'?

name    type    type_desc
getNewsletterStats  FS  CLR_SCALAR_FUNCTION

that's what the item in sys.objects corresponds with for my UDF which is derived from an external DLL

Answer 8

To extend upon @LukeH's answer, to return the function definitions as well requires a join to the sys.sql_modules table. So the query for this is:

SELECT O.name as 'Function name', M.definition as 'Definition', O.object_id
FROM sys.objects as O INNER JOIN sys.sql_modules as M
    ON O.object_id = M.object_id
WHERE type IN ('FN', 'IF', 'TF')  -- scalar, inline table-valued, table-valued

where the above displays the function name, its definition and the object identifier respectively.

Answer 9

For a fuller description of scalar functions including owner and return type:

SELECT f.name, s.name AS owner, t.name as dataType, p.max_length, p.precision, p.scale, m.definition
FROM sys.objects f
JOIN sys.schemas s on s.schema_id = f.schema_id
JOIN sys.parameters p on p.object_id = f.object_id AND p.parameter_id = 0
JOIN sys.types t ON t.system_type_id = p.system_type_id 
JOIN sys.sql_modules as m ON m.object_id = f.object_id
WHERE type='FN';

Answer 10

SQL 2000 specific, slight adjustment for the object name:

SELECT *
FROM sysobjects
WHERE type IN ('FN', 'IF', 'TF')

OR

SELECT *
FROM dbo.sysobjects
WHERE type IN ('FN', 'IF', 'TF')