Why do I have to SET ARITHABORT ON when using xml in sql server 2005?

Question

Why do I have to SET ARITHABORT ON when using xml in sql server 2005? I tried researching why I have to set this but couldn't find an answer that told me why. Only that it needs to be set.

Here is the specific error message I get when I take out the SET ARITHABORT ON line:

PARAMETER ERROR: INSERT LIST COULD NOT BE PARSED - INSERT failed because the following SET options have incorrect settings: 'ARITHABORT'. Verify that SET options are correct for use with indexed views and/or indexes on computed columns and/or query notifications and/or xml data type methods.

My stored procedure worked fine called from asp.net using odbc in one environment. Then when I moved it to another, I had to add SET ARITHABORT ON in the beginning of the stored procedure. I include the relevant sections of the stored procedure below. And the code that is calling it.

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[myproc]
   @ruserid             varchar(8),
   @folder_list         xml,
   @insert_list         xml
AS

SET NOCOUNT ON
SET ARITHABORT ON

DECLARE @rindex integer
DECLARE @errormsg nvarchar(4000)
DECLARE @folder_cnt integer
DECLARE @insert_cnt integer


SET @rindex = -1

-- temp table to hold inserts
CREATE TABLE #insert_list (rowidx integer IDENTITY(1,1), insertdesc varchar(96) COLLATE database_default, insertfolder integer)

-- temp table to hold folders
CREATE TABLE #folder_list (rowidx integer IDENTITY(1,1), folderdesc varchar(144) COLLATE database_default, insertfolder integer)

-- insert inserts to make sure data is compatible in type
BEGIN TRY
   INSERT INTO #insert_list (insertdesc, insertfolder)
   SELECT insert_list.listitem.value('@insertdesc', 'varchar(96)'), insert_list.listitem.value('@insertfolder', 'integer')
   FROM @insert_list.nodes('/Root/Insert') AS insert_list(listitem)
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
   SET @errormsg = N'PARAMETER ERROR: INSERT LIST COULD NOT BE PARSED - ' + ERROR_MESSAGE()
   RAISERROR(@errormsg, 16, 1)
   RETURN
END CATCH

-- insert folders to make sure data is compatible in type
BEGIN TRY
   INSERT INTO #folder_list (insertfolder, folderdesc)
   SELECT folder_list.listitem.value('@insertfolder', 'integer'), folder_list.listitem.value('@folderdesc', 'varchar(144)')
   FROM @folder_list.nodes('/Root/Folder') AS folder_list(listitem)
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
   SET @errormsg = N'PARAMETER ERROR: FOLDER LIST COULD NOT BE PARSED - ' + ERROR_MESSAGE()
   RAISERROR(@errormsg, 16, 1)
   RETURN
END CATCH

-- insert rows
BEGIN TRANSACTION

BEGIN TRY

INSERT INTO my_folder_request (ruserid)
VALUES ( @ruserid )

SET @rindex = SCOPE_IDENTITY()

INSERT INTO my_insert_request (rindex, insertdesc, insertfolder)
SELECT @rindex, #insert_list.insertdesc, #insert_list.insertfolder
FROM #insert_list
ORDER BY #insert_list.rowidx

INSERT INTO my_folder_desc (rindex, insertfolder, folderdesc)
SELECT @rindex, #folder_list.insertfolder, #folder_list.folderdesc
FROM #folder_list
ORDER BY #folder_list.rowidx

END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
   IF @@TRANCOUNT > 0
      ROLLBACK TRANSACTION
   SET @errormsg = N'DATA INSERTION FAILED WITH MESSAGE - ' + ERROR_MESSAGE()
   RAISERROR(@errormsg, 16, 1)
   RETURN
END CATCH

IF @@TRANCOUNT > 0
   COMMIT TRANSACTION

-- return result
SELECT @rindex AS rindex

DROP TABLE #insert_list
DROP TABLE #folder_list

GO           

Calling Code

  ' build odbc command for inserting creation request
  intRequestIndex = 0
  cmdAddRequest = New System.Data.Odbc.OdbcCommand
  cmdAddRequest.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure
  cmdAddRequest.CommandTimeout = 60
  cmdAddRequest.CommandText = "{CALL myproc ( ?, ?, ?)}"

  ' add parameters to odbc command
  cmdAddRequest.Parameters.Add("@ruserid", OdbcType.VarChar, 8).Value = SafeODBCParamString(m_strUID)
  cmdAddRequest.Parameters.Add("@folder_list", OdbcType.NText).Value = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetString(strmFolderList.ToArray())
  cmdAddRequest.Parameters.Add("@insert_list", OdbcType.NText).Value = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetString(strmInsertList.ToArray())

  ' run odbc command returning info about results
  cmdAddRequest.Connection = Me.ODBCConnection()
  Try
     rdrRequestData = cmdAddRequest.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection) 

Answer 1

Here's a solution I found to the ARITHABORT issue when calling a stored procedure with an xml input parameter from a .Net client.

using (var conn = new SqlConnection(dbConnectionString))  
{  
    SqlCommand command = new SqlCommand("[stored procedure name here]", conn);  
    command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;  
    command.Parameters.AddWithValue("@parameter_name", parameter_xml_value);  

    conn.Open();  

    SqlCommand arithabortCommand = new SqlCommand("SET ARITHABORT ON", conn);  
    arithabortCommand.ExecuteNonQuery();  

    command.ExecuteNonQuery();  
    conn.Close();  
} // using (var conn = new SqlConnection(dbConnectionString))