SQL 2008 Table Value Parameters and Merge
Table Value Parameters + MERGE statement
In many customer scenarios, it is necessary to pass a set of table structured values (rows) to a stored procedure/function on the server. These values may be used for populating/updating a table directly or for more complex manipulation of data for business logic purposes. Table valued parameters provide an easier way to define a table type and allow applications to create, populate and pass table structured parameters to stored procedures and functions.
With the introduction of the MERGE SQL statement, developers can more effectively handle common data warehousing scenarios like checking whether a row exists and then executing an insert or update.