Msg 203, Level 16, State 2, is not a valid identifier

Question

I'm getting the following error:

Msg 203, Level 16, State 2, Procedure getQuestion, Line 18
The name 'select top(1) * from tlb_Question inner join tlb_options on tlb_options.qID=tlb_Question.id and tlb_Question.qNumber=1 and tlb_Question.id not in (0,1)' is not a valid identifier

from the following stored procedure:

ALTER proc getQuestion
    @qNo bigint,
    @total bigint,
    @next nvarchar(max)
as
begin 
    declare @hisa bigint
    set @hisa=@total/3

    if(@qNo<=@total/3)
    begin
    declare @query nvarchar(max)
    set @query=('select top(1) * from tlb_Question 
        inner join tlb_options on tlb_options.qID=tlb_Question.id and tlb_Question.qNumber=1 and tlb_Question.id not in ('+cast(@next as varchar)+')')
    print @query
    execute @query
    end
end

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 03 '12 at 04:24

24

Please try this, changed execute @query to execute (@query):

ALTER proc getQuestion
    @qNo bigint,
    @total bigint,
    @next nvarchar(max)
as

begin 
    declare @hisa bigint
    set @hisa=@total/3

    if(@qNo<=@total/3)
    begin
      declare @query nvarchar(max)
      set @query=('select top(1) * from tlb_Question 
      inner join tlb_options on tlb_options.qID=tlb_Question.id and tlb_Question.qNumber=1 and tlb_Question.id not in ('+cast(@next as varchar)+')')
      --print @query
      execute (@query)
    end
end

answered Nov 03 '12 at 04:24

TechDo

18,398
3
51
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2

why we need to write ``exec(@query)`` why ``exec @query`` not works – Ehsan Sajjad Jun 25 '14 at 07:22
Not sure but I'm willing to bet it has to do with concatenation with the + symbol!! – Don Thomas Boyle Oct 30 '17 at 19:13
1

You are a lifesaver. I have been banging my head against the wall all week long. – Edgardo Cervantes Aug 22 '21 at 18:57

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 03 '12 at 05:19

2

The problem is execute @query. I can confirm that after testing it out. @techdo was correct. Change it to

execute (@query)

answered Nov 03 '12 at 05:19

codingbiz

26,179
8
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Msg 203, Level 16, State 2, is not a valid identifier

2 Answers2

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