Stored Procedure in DataBase

A stored procedure is a subroutine available to applications accessing a relational database system. Stored procedures (sometimes called a proc, sproc, StoPro, or SP) are actually stored in the database data dictionary.

Typical uses for stored procedures include data validation (integrated into the database) or access control mechanisms. Furthermore, stored procedures are used to consolidate and centralize logic that was originally implemented in applications. Large or complex processing that might require the execution of several SQL statements is moved into stored procedures, and all applications call the procedures only.

Stored procedures are similar to user-defined functions (UDFs). The major difference is that UDFs can be used like any other expression within SQL statements, whereas stored procedures must be invoked using the CALL statement

CALL procedure(…)

or

EXECUTE procedure(…)