Recursive SQL can be very elegant and efficient. However, because of the difficulty developers can have understanding recursion, it is sometimes thought of as 'too inefficient to use frequently.' But, ...

Processing occurs one at a time and calls a SQL Server stored procedure. The SPROC is recursive. For each ID that is submitted, it can have any number of child ID's.

The basic concept of recursion is straightforward: a given chunk of code calls itself until some boundary condition is reached. Arthur Fuller demonstrates how to use recursion in T-SQL.

ANSI SQL 99 adds a recursive query capability which permits it.<BR><BR>SQL Server 2005 will add recursive query capability to T-SQL, but for no good reason doesn't use the ANSI syntax.