Question

In Ado.net, the code is calling a stored procedure with input and output parameters.

I understand that if some of the input parameters are optional (have default values in the SP), the code doesn’t need to define and send the parameters values unless needed to.

My question is:
Does the same apply to the optional output parameters? can the code ignore the optional (has a default value) SP output parameters?

I could have tested it myself but I don’t have a working example right now, and I am short of time.

Thanks you.

Answer 1

Yes. If a parameter has a default value then it may be safely omitted, irrelevant of the parameter direction (INPUT or OUTPUT). The fact that the procedure is called from ADO.Net is entirely irrelevant. Eg:

create procedure usp_test
    @a int = 1 output,
    @b int = 2
as
begin
    set @a = @b;
end 
go

exec usp_test 

Whether is safe to do from a business rules point of view (ie. ignoring an OUTPUT parameter returned value), is entirely up to the specifics of the procedure and your app.