CREATE VIEW must be the only statement in the batch

I came across this question when I was trying to create a couple of views within the same statement, what worked well for me is using dynamic SQL.

    EXEC('CREATE VIEW V1 as SELECT * FROM [T1];');
    EXEC('CREATE VIEW V2 as SELECT * FROM [T2];');

Just as the error says, the CREATE VIEW statement needs to be the only statement in the query batch.

You have two option in this scenario, depending on the functionality you want to achieve:

  1. Place the CREATE VIEW query at the beginning

    CREATE VIEW showing
    as
    select tradename, unitprice, GenericFlag
    from Medicine;
    
    with ExpAndCheapMedicine(MostMoney, MinMoney) as
    (
        select max(unitprice), min(unitprice)
        from Medicine
    )
    ,
    findmostexpensive(nameOfExpensive) as
    (
        select tradename
        from Medicine, ExpAndCheapMedicine
        where UnitPrice = MostMoney
    )
    ,
    findCheapest(nameOfCheapest) as
    (
        select tradename
        from Medicine, ExpAndCheapMedicine
            where UnitPrice = MinMoney
        )
    
  2. Use GO after the CTE and before the CREATE VIEW query

    -- Option #2

    with ExpAndCheapMedicine(MostMoney, MinMoney) as
    (
        select max(unitprice), min(unitprice)
        from Medicine
    )
    ,
    findmostexpensive(nameOfExpensive) as
    (
        select tradename
        from Medicine, ExpAndCheapMedicine
        where UnitPrice = MostMoney
    )
    ,
    findCheapest(nameOfCheapest) as
    (
        select tradename
        from Medicine, ExpAndCheapMedicine
        where UnitPrice = MinMoney
    )
    
    GO    
    
    CREATE VIEW showing
    as
    select tradename, unitprice, GenericFlag
    from Medicine;