SET NOCOUNT in SQL-2005

Remarks

When SET NOCOUNT is ON, the count is not returned. When SET NOCOUNT is OFF, the count is returned.

The @@ROWCOUNT function is updated even when SET NOCOUNT is ON.

SET NOCOUNT ON prevents the sending of DONE_IN_PROC messages to the client for each statement in a stored procedure. For stored procedures that contain several statements that do not return much actual data, setting SET NOCOUNT to ON can provide a significant performance boost, because network traffic is greatly reduced.

The setting specified by SET NOCOUNT is in effect at execute or run time and not at parse time.

Permissions

Requires membership in the public role.

Examples

USE AdventureWorks;
GO
SET NOCOUNT OFF;
GO
-- Display the count message.
SELECT TOP(5)LastName
FROM Person.Contact
WHERE LastName LIKE 'A%';
GO
-- SET NOCOUNT to ON to no longer display the count message.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
GO
SELECT TOP(5) LastName
FROM Person.Contact
WHERE LastName LIKE 'A%';
GO
-- Reset SET NOCOUNT to OFF
SET NOCOUNT OFF;
GO