Question

Hello I have a dynamic query like

SET  @template = 'SELECT x AS X,... INTO temporalTable FROM' + @table_name 

Then I execute it

EXEC (@template)

• How do I validate if temporalTable
  already exists, if so, drop it?

Answer 1

Use information schema or sp_help function.

I would prefer information schema since it’s SQL ANSI and you can port the code to other databases:

select count(1)
  from information_schema.tables 
 where table_name = 'temporalTable';

sys.tables is a SQLServer specific option similar to inforamtion schema that you can also explore.