Creating table variable in SQL server 2008 R2

Question

what is table variable? And how to create a table variable (virtual in-memory table) with columns that match the existing Stored procedure resultset.

I executed the procedure and after executing it, the column names are known to me. But do i have to declare the same data type of the columns as it was in stored procedure?

EDIT: I tried this

DECLARE @Table TABLE(  name varchar(30) NOT NULL,  location varchar(30) NOT NULL  );   INSERT @Table  SELECT name, location FROM  Exec SPROC @param , @param 

Answer 1

@tableName Table variables are alive for duration of the script running only i.e. they are only session level objects.

To test this, open two query editor windows under sql server management studio, and create table variables with same name but different structures. You will get an idea. The @tableName object is thus temporary and used for our internal processing of data, and it doesn't contribute to the actual database structure.

There is another type of table object which can be created for temporary use. They are #tableName objects declared like similar create statement for physical tables:

Create table #test (Id int, Name varchar(50)) 

This table object is created and stored in temp database. Unlike the first one, this object is more useful, can store large data and takes part in transactions etc. These tables are alive till the connection is open. You have to drop the created object by following script before re-creating it.

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#test') IS NOT NULL   DROP TABLE #test  

Hope this makes sense !