Use one CTE many times

Question

I have this, and i get an error at set total. Why can't i access a cte many times?

ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[GetLeaguePlayers]
(
    @idleague int,
    @pageNumber int,
    @pageSize int,
    @total int OUTPUT
)
AS
WITH CTEPlayers AS
(
    SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY p.Name) AS RowNumber, p.Id, p.Name, t.Name AS Team
    FROM Players p INNER JOIN Teams t ON p.IdTeam=t.Id INNER JOIN Leagues l ON l.Id=t.IdLeague
    WHERE l.Id=@idleague
)
SELECT Id, Name
FROM CTEPlayers c
WHERE RowNumber>@pageSize*(@pageNumber-1) AND RowNumber<@pageSize*@pageNumber;
SET @total = ( SELECT COUNT(*) FROM CTEPlayers )

Answer 1

A CTE is basically a disposable view. It only persists for a single statement, and then automatically disappears.

Your options include:

• Redefine the CTE a second time. This is as simple as copy-paste from WITH... through the end of the definition to before your SET.

• Put your results into a #temp table or a @table variable

• Materialize the results into a real table and reference that

• Alter slightly to just SELECT COUNT from your CTE:

.

SELECT @total = COUNT(*)
FROM Players p 
INNER JOIN Teams t 
    ON p.IdTeam=t.Id 
INNER JOIN Leagues l 
    ON l.Id=t.IdLeague
WHERE l.Id=@idleague