I have never really used stored procedures because I never really had a need to. I would just use standard SQL calls to the DB via ADO in my apps.

I have a pretty complex filter I need to apply and the SQL statement keeps getting bigger and more cumbersome, so I would like to convert it to a stored proc, but I am not too sure how they work.

I understand the idea of them and I sort of know how to create them, but I am looking for maybe a site or something that gives a basic overview with some examples.

Im using SQL Server 2000

I guess what I don't get is, the syntax shows as "create procedure" but do you need to "create" it each time? or is that just the first time its created? why when I use this syntax in the query analyzer, does it not show up in the stored procedures section of my database?