Use this statement to invoke a procedure.

Syntax 1

[variable = ] CALL procedure-name ( [ expression, ... ] )

Syntax 2

[variable = ] CALL procedure-name ( [ parameter-name = expression, ... ] )

Remarks

The CALL statement invokes a procedure that has been previously created with a CREATE PROCEDURE statement. When the procedure completes, any INOUT or OUT parameter value is copied back.

The argument list can be specified by position or by using keyword format. By position, the arguments will match up with the corresponding parameter in the parameter list for the procedure. By keyword, the arguments are matched up with the named parameters.

Procedure arguments can be assigned default values in the CREATE PROCEDURE statement, and missing parameters are assigned the default value. If no default is set, and an argument is not provided, an error is given.

Inside a procedure, a CALL statement can be used in a DECLARE statement when the procedure returns result sets. See Returning results from procedures.

Procedures can return an integer value (for example, as a status indicator) using the RETURN statement. You can save this return value in a variable using the equality sign as an assignment operator:

CREATE VARIABLE returnval INT;
returnval = CALL proc_integer ( arg1 = val1, ... )

Permissions

Must be the owner of the procedure, have EXECUTE permission for the procedure, or have DBA authority.

Side effects

None.

See also

• CREATE FUNCTION statement
• CREATE PROCEDURE statement
• GRANT statement
• EXECUTE statement [T-SQL]
• Using procedures, triggers, and batches

Standards and compatibility

Example

Call the ShowCustomers procedure. This procedure has no parameters, and returns a result set.

CALL ShowCustomers();

The following Interactive SQL example creates a procedure to return the number of orders placed by the customer whose ID is supplied, creates a variable to hold the result, calls the procedure, and displays the result.

CREATE PROCEDURE OrderCount (IN customer_ID INT, OUT Orders INT)
BEGIN
   SELECT COUNT(SalesOrders.ID)
   INTO Orders
   FROM Customers
   KEY LEFT OUTER JOIN SalesOrders
   WHERE Customers.ID = customer_ID;
END
go
 -- Create a variable to hold the result
CREATE VARIABLE Orders INT
go
-- Call the procedure, FOR customer 101
CALL OrderCount ( 101, Orders )
go
--  Display the result
SELECT Orders FROM DUMMY
go