OPENQUERY (Transact-SQL)

the specified pass-through query on the specified linked server. This server is an OLE DB data
source. OPENQUERY can be referenced in the FROM clause of a query as if it were a table
name. OPENQUERY can also be referenced as the target table of an INSERT, UPDATE, or
DELETE statement. This is subject to the capabilities of the OLE DB provider. Although the
query may return multiple result sets, OPENQUERY returns only the first one.

Syntax
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OPENQUERY ( linked_server ,'query' )
Arguments
linked_server
Is an identifier representing the name of the linked server.

' query '
Is the query string executed in the linked server. The maximum length of the string is 8 KB.

Remarks
OPENQUERY does not accept variables for its arguments.

OPENQUERY cannot be used to execute extended stored procedures on a linked server.

However, an extended stored procedure can be executed on a linked server by using a four-part
name. For example:

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EXEC SeattleSales.master.dbo.xp_msver

Any call to OPENDATASOURCE, OPENQUERY, or OPENROWSET in the FROM clause is

evaluated separately and independently from any call to these functions used as the target of the
update, even if identical arguments are supplied to the two calls. In particular, filter or join
conditions applied on the result of one of those calls have no effect on the results of the other.

Permissions
Any user can execute OPENQUERY. The permissions that are used to connect to the remote
server are obtained from the settings defined for the linked server.
Examples
A. Executing an UPDATE pass-through query

The following example uses a pass-through UPDATE query against the linked server created in
example A.

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UPDATE OPENQUERY (OracleSvr, 'SELECT name FROM joe.titles WHERE id = 101')
SET name = 'ADifferentName';
B. Executing an INSERT pass-through query

The following example uses a pass-through INSERT query against the linked server created in
example A.

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INSERT OPENQUERY (OracleSvr, 'SELECT name FROM joe.titles')
VALUES ('NewTitle');
C. Executing a DELETE pass-through query

The following example uses a pass-through DELETE query to delete the row inserted in example
C.

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DELETE OPENQUERY (OracleSvr, 'SELECT name FROM joe.titles WHERE name =
''NewTitle''');

D. Executing a SELECT pass-through query

The following example uses a pass-through SELECT query to select the row inserted in example
C.

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SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY (OracleSvr, 'SELECT name FROM joe.titles WHERE name =
''NewTitle''');