4.4. Types of CLR Routines

SQL Server 2005 CLR integration lets you build database objects using .NET languages. Once a .NET Framework assembly is registered with SQL Server, you can create CLR routines that can be used anywhere a T-SQL equivalent routine can be used. Table 4-3 describes the available CLR routines.

Table 4-3. Types of CLR routines

Database object	.NET Framework assembly type	Description
Scalar-valued function	Public static method	A UDF that returns a single value.
Table-valued function	Public static method	A UDF that returns a table as the result set.
Stored procedure	Public static method	A routine that returns tabular result sets and messages to the client, invokes DDL and DML statements, and returns output parameters.
User-defined aggregate function	Class or structure	A UDA function that operates on values in a set of rows and returns a scalar.
User-defined type	Class or structure	Complex data types complete with methods that extend the scalar type system in SQL Server.
Trigger (DML and DDL)	Public static method	A type of stored procedure that automatically runs when a DML or DDL event occurs.