The WAITFOR DELAY system function is the best tool we have in Microsoft SQL Server to introduce a pause in our SQL code.
The syntax is extremely simple. We just run the WAITFOR DELAY statement on its own, like this:
WAITFOR DELAY '00:00:10'
You can see how in single quotes, we outline the duration of the delay. In this example, we are delaying for 10 seconds.
Notice you don’t need to call the WAITFOR DELAY function within a SELECT statement or any other clause. You can just run it on its own.
This offers a simple, easy way to introduce a pause in your code!
Next Steps:
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Here’s a link to the official Microsoft article that talks about WAITFOR DELAY
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