SQL comment header examples [closed]

Question

Would just like too see what peoples Stored Procedure/Function etc comment headers look like (so post your examples)...I've only really seen what the SQL Server Management Studio creates but am interested in what other peoples look like...the formatting, characters used, procedure information/details etc I guess are what really makes them different...

SQL Server Management Studio (version 9) stored procedure comment header default:

-- ============================================= -- Author:      Name -- Create date:  -- Description:  -- ============================================= 

Answer 1

-- -- STORED PROCEDURE --     Name of stored procedure. -- -- DESCRIPTION --     Business description of the stored procedure's functionality. -- -- PARAMETERS --     @InputParameter1 --         * Description of @InputParameter1 and how it is used. -- -- RETURN VALUE --         0 - No Error. --     -1000 - Description of cause of non-zero return value. -- -- PROGRAMMING NOTES --     Gotchas and other notes for your fellow programmer. -- -- CHANGE HISTORY --     05 May 2009 - Who --        * More comprehensive description of the change than that included with the --          source code commit message. -- 

Answer 2

I know this post is ancient, but well formatted code never goes out of style.

I use this template for all of my procedures. Some people don't like verbose code and comments, but as someone who frequently has to update stored procedures that haven't been touched since the mid 90s, I can tell you the value of writing well formatted and heavily commented code. Many were written to be as concise as possible, and it can sometimes take days to grasp the intent of a procedure. It's quite easy to see what a block of code is doing by simply reading it, but its far harder (and sometimes impossible) is understanding the intent of the code without proper commenting.

Explain it like you are walking a junior developer through it. Assume the person reading it knows little to nothing about functional area it's addressing and only has a limited understanding of SQL. Why? Many times people have to look at procedures to understand them even when they have no intention of or business modifying them.

/*************************************************************************************************** Procedure:          dbo.usp_DoSomeStuff Create Date:        2018-01-25 Author:             Joe Expert Description:        Verbose description of what the query does goes here. Be specific and don't be                     afraid to say too much. More is better, than less, every single time. Think about                     "what, when, where, how and why" when authoring a description. Call by:            [schema.usp_ProcThatCallsThis]                     [Application Name]                     [Job]                     [PLC/Interface] Affected table(s):  [schema.TableModifiedByProc1]                     [schema.TableModifiedByProc2] Used By:            Functional Area this is use in, for example, Payroll, Accounting, Finance Parameter(s):       @param1 - description and usage                     @param2 - description and usage Usage:              EXEC dbo.usp_DoSomeStuff                         @param1 = 1,                         @param2 = 3,                         @param3 = 2                     Additional notes or caveats about this object, like where is can and cannot be run, or                     gotchas to watch for when using it. **************************************************************************************************** SUMMARY OF CHANGES Date(yyyy-mm-dd)    Author              Comments ------------------- ------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2012-04-27          John Usdaworkhur    Move Z <-> X was done in a single step. Warehouse does not                                         allow this. Converted to two step process.                                         Z <-> 7 <-> X                                             1) move class Z to class 7                                             2) move class 7 to class X  2018-03-22          Maan Widaplan       General formatting and added header information. 2018-03-22          Maan Widaplan       Added logic to automatically Move G <-> H after 12 months. ***************************************************************************************************/ 

In addition to this header, your code should be well commented and outlined from top to bottom. Add comment blocks to major functional sections like:

/*********************************** **  Process all new Inventory records **  Verify quantities and mark as **  available to ship. ************************************/ 

Add lots of inline comments explaining all criteria except the most basic, and ALWAYS format your code for readability. Long vertical pages of indented code are better than wide short ones and make it far easier to see where code blocks begin and end years later when someone else is supporting your code. Sometimes wide, non-indented code is more readable. If so, use that, but only when necessary.

UPDATE Pallets SET class_code = 'X' WHERE     AND class_code != 'D'     AND class_code = 'Z'      AND historical = 'N'     AND quantity > 0     AND GETDATE() > DATEADD(minute, 30, creation_date)     AND pallet_id IN ( -- Only update pallets that we've created an Adjustment record for         SELECT Adjust_ID         FROM Adjustments         WHERE             AdjustmentStatus = 0             AND RecID > @MaxAdjNumber 

Edit

I've recently abandoned the banner style comment blocks because it's easy for the top and bottom comments to get separated as code is updated over time. You can end up with logically separate code within comment blocks that say they belong together which create more problems than it solves. I've begun instead surrounding multiple statement sections that belong together with BEGIN ... END blocks, and putting my flow comments next to the first line of each statement. This has the benefit of letting you collapse code block and be able to clearly read the high level flow comments, and when you branch one section open you'll be able to do the same with the individual statements within. This also lends itself very well to heavily nested levels of code. It's invaluable when your proc start to creep into the 200-400 line range and doesn't add any line bulk to an already long procedure.

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