Scalar UDF's like this are performance killers on larger tables.
Compare the results of doing this with a UDF and a single SELECT statement. They should speak for themselves. While you will maybe save some keystrokes (and, hey, I'm completely with you at this point), I think you'll save them in the wrong place.
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Frank Kalis
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Webmaster: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs
My blog: http://www.insidesql.org/blogs/frankkalis/[/url]