Creating a User-Defined Type (SQL 2005)

To create a user-defined type (UDT) capable of being installed in Microsoft SQL Server 2005, you must first create a class in one of the supported Microsoft .NET Framework programming languages, such as Microsoft Visual C# or Microsoft Visual Basic, which conforms to the specifications for creating UDTs. The class can then be compiled as a dynamic-link library (DLL), which can be loaded in SQL Server 2005. You can also create and deploy UDTs using Microsoft Visual Studio. The ability to execute common language runtime (CLR) code is set to OFF by default in SQL Server 2005. The CLR can be enabled by using the sp_configure system stored procedure, as shown in the following Transact-SQL statements:

sp_configure 'clr enabled', 1
Reconfigure

The following code listing defines the Point UDT


using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlTypes;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;
using System.Text;
[Serializable]
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlUserDefinedType(Format.Native,
IsByteOrdered=true, ValidationMethodName = "ValidatePoint")]
public struct Point : INullable
{
private bool is_Null;
private Int32 _x;
private Int32 _y;
public bool IsNull
{
get
{
return (is_Null);
}
}
public static Point Null
{
get
{
Point pt = new Point();
pt.is_Null = true;
return pt;
}
}
// Use StringBuilder to provide string representation of UDT.
public override string ToString()
{
// Since InvokeIfReceiverIsNull defaults to 'true'
// this test is unneccesary if Point is only being called
// from SQL.
if (this.IsNull)
return "NULL";
else
{
StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
builder.Append(_x);
builder.Append(",");
builder.Append(_y);
return builder.ToString();
}
}
[SqlMethod(OnNullCall = false)]
public static Point Parse(SqlString s)
{
// With OnNullCall=false, this check is unnecessary if
// Point only called from SQL.
if (s.IsNull)
return Null;
// Parse input string to separate out points.
Point pt = new Point();
string[] xy = s.Value.Split(",".ToCharArray());
pt.X = Int32.Parse(xy[0]);
pt.Y = Int32.Parse(xy[1]);
// Call ValidatePoint to enforce validation
// for string conversions.
if (!pt.ValidatePoint())
throw new ArgumentException("Invalid XY coordinate values.");
return pt;
}
// X and Y coordinates exposed as properties.
public Int32 X
{
get
{
return this._x;
}
// Call ValidatePoint to ensure valid range of Point values.
set
{
Int32 temp = _x;
_x = value;
if (!ValidatePoint())
{
_x = temp;
throw new ArgumentException("Invalid X coordinate value.");
}
}
}
public Int32 Y
{
get
{
return this._y;
}
set
{
Int32 temp = _y;
_y = value;
if (!ValidatePoint())
{
_y = temp;
throw new ArgumentException("Invalid Y coordinate value.");
}
}
}
// Validation method to enforce valid X and Y values.
private bool ValidatePoint()
{
// Allow only zero or positive integers for X and Y coordinates.
if ((_x >= 0) && (_y >= 0))
{
return true;
}
else
{
return false;
}
}
// Distance from 0 to Point method.
[SqlMethod(OnNullCall = false)]
public Double Distance()
{
return DistanceFromXY(0, 0);
}
// Distance from Point to the specified point method.
[SqlMethod(OnNullCall = false)]
public Double DistanceFrom(Point pFrom)
{
return DistanceFromXY(pFrom.X, pFrom.Y);
}
// Distance from Point to the specified x and y values method.
[SqlMethod(OnNullCall = false)]
public Double DistanceFromXY(Int32 iX, Int32 iY)
{
return Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(iX - _x, 2.0) + Math.Pow(iY - _y, 2.0));
}
}