Question

We are rewriting a foxpro database to SQL. I encountered the following scenario. Foxpro can create two cursors with the same name under two different if statements.

I tried to do the same in SQL. Created two temporary tables. Something like below:

IF @id = 1
BEGIN
SELECT * INTO #abc from table1
END

IF @id = 2
BEGIN
SELECT * INTO #abc frm table2
END

NEXT here I write a code to update the values of a temporary table column with another column. But sql throws me an error saying ‘there is already an object named #abc in the database’.

Can I please have a solution to this?

Thank you.

Answer 1

For your specific use case given that both have the same structure you could use.

IF @id IN ( 1, 2 )
  BEGIN
      SELECT *
      INTO   #abc
      FROM   table1
      WHERE  @id = 1
      UNION ALL
      SELECT *
      FROM   table2
      WHERE  @id = 2
  END 

to avoid the parser issue you are encountering. I agree with Ben’s comment though that a literal translation of the FoxPro code is likely going to lead you with an inefficient and unmaintainable mess.