My requirement is a simple one. I just want to evaluate a text expression like the following:

'(((456883×45877)+533)/899955)'

To do this in a stored function I have had to write nearly 400 lines of code. Whereas to do this in a stored procedure, using SP_EXECUTESQL, requires only five lines of code.

Surely Microsoft could allow the use of SP_EXECUTESQL, if it only results in the output of a numeric value.