Difference between Trigger and Stored Procedures

 This topics is picked from Microsoft Business Intelligence (Data Tools) - Triggers.

Difference between Trigger and Stored Procedures

Contents	Triggers	Stored Procedures
Implementation	Triggers can only be implemented on tables or views. A trigger cannot be written within a stored procedure.	Stored Procedure in independent code that can be specific to database. A stored procedure can be written within a trigger
Event and action	Triggers are event and action based to perform some specific tasks and they are free to run automatically whenever the event is occurred on the table on which the trigger is defined	They are not based on the event and action. They are not able to run automatically and depend on the other manual process.
Execution Mode	They execute implicitly.	A stored procedure must be called explicitly.
Schedule Mode	This is not possible for triggers because they are event and action based.	Stored procedures can be easily scheduled through a job to execute on a predefined time.
Transactions	Transactions are not allowed in Triggers.	Transaction statements like begin transaction, commit transaction, and rollback can be used easily inside a stored procedure.
Parameters	This feature is not applicable in triggers.	Stored Procedures may or may not have one or more input/ output parameters to perform some tasks.
Front end applications	This feature is not applicable for triggers.	Stored Procedures can be easily called from the front end (.asp files, .aspx files, .ascx files, .rdl etc.)
Return Value specific	A trigger cannot return a value.	Stored procedures can return values.
Debugging	Print commands cannot work inside the trigger.	Print commands can work inside a stored procedure for debugging purposes.
Nesting	Directly you cannot call another trigger within a trigger.	A stored procedure can be called from inside another stored procedure.
Task Specific	The Triggers for auditing work: Triggers normally are used for auditing work. They can be used to trace the activities of table events.	Stored procedures are used for performing tasks. Stored procedures are normally used for performing user specified tasks.

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