Guru's Guide to SQL Server Architecture and Internals, The

The sp_OA Procedures

Transact-SQL's Automation stored procedures are named using the convention sp_OAFunction, where Function indicates what the procedure does (e.g., sp_OACreate creates COM objects, sp_OAMethod calls a method, sp_OAGetProperty and sp_OASetProperty get and set object properties, respectively, and so on). Each of the sp_OA procs except sp_OACreate expects an integer parameter containing a pointer to the previously created object. The sp_OACreate procedure, of course, creates the object, and so it expects an integer variable to be passed in as an output parameter to receive the reference to the object it creates. This integer actually references an internal wrapper object created by ODSOLE to encapsulate the COM object. This internal ...