SQL Server - where is "sys.functions"?

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?

Solution 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

Solution 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.

Solution 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
*/

Solution 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.

Solution 5:

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

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