RETURN (Snowflake Scripting) | Snowflake Documentation (original) (raw)

Returns the value of a specified expression.

For more information about returning values, see Returning a value.

Syntax¶

Where:

_expression_

An expression that evaluates to the value to return.

Usage notes¶

A RETURN statement can be executed in:
- A stored procedure.
- An anonymous block.
A RETURN statement returns one of the following types:
- A SQL data type
- A table. Use TABLE(...) in the RETURN statement.
  If your block is in a stored procedure, you must also specify the RETURNS TABLE... clause in theCREATE PROCEDURE statement.
  Note
  Currently, in the RETURNS TABLE(...) clause, you can’t specify GEOGRAPHY as a column type. This applies whether you are creating a stored or anonymous procedure.
  CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE test_return_geography_table_1()
  RETURNS TABLE(g GEOGRAPHY)
  ...
  WITH test_return_geography_table_1() AS PROCEDURE
  RETURNS TABLE(g GEOGRAPHY)
  ...
  CALL test_return_geography_table_1();
  If you attempt to specify GEOGRAPHY as a column type, calling the stored procedure results in the error:
  Stored procedure execution error: data type of returned table does not match expected returned table type
  To work around this issue, you can omit the column arguments and types in RETURNS TABLE().
  CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE test_return_geography_table_1()
  RETURNS TABLE()
  ...
  WITH test_return_geography_table_1() AS PROCEDURE
  RETURNS TABLE()
  ...
  CALL test_return_geography_table_1();
  If you want to return the data that a RESULTSET points to, pass the RESULTSET to TABLE(…), as shown in the example below:
  CREATE PROCEDURE ...
  RETURNS TABLE(...)
  ...
  RETURN TABLE(my_result_set);
  ...
  See Returning a RESULTSET as a table.
You can set a variable to the return value of a stored procedure. For more information, seeUsing the value returned from a stored procedure call.

Examples¶

This example declares a variable named my_var for use in a Snowflake Scripting anonymous block and then returns the value of the variable:

DECLARE my_var VARCHAR; BEGIN my_var := 'Snowflake'; RETURN my_var; END;

Note: If you use Snowflake CLI, SnowSQL, the Classic Console, or theexecute_stream or execute_string method in Python Connectorcode, use this example instead (see Using Snowflake Scripting in Snowflake CLI, SnowSQL, the Classic Console, and Python Connector):

EXECUTE IMMEDIATE DECLAREmyvarVARCHAR;BEGINmyvar:=′Snowflake′;RETURNmyvar;END;DECLARE my_var VARCHAR; BEGIN my_var := 'Snowflake'; RETURN my_var; END;DECLAREmyvarVARCHAR;BEGINmyvar:=′Snowflake′;RETURNmyvar;END;;