Argument data type varchar is invalid for argument 1 of formatmessage function

Question

So, I have a need to parameterize my templates so I can dynamically compile and execute them as needed. I have read on some blogs that it is possible to use FORMATMESSAGE  for user string formatting but I can't seem to get that working on my end and
would appreciate help getting this running. 
I continually run into the following error message
Msg 8116, Level 16, State 1, Line 9
Argument data type varchar is invalid for argument 1 of formatmessage function.
when I try to execute either of  the queries below
1) 
 SELECT FORMATMESSAGE ( CAST('%s' AS VARCHAR(10)), 'name' );
2) 
-- printf formatting  %[[flag][width][.precision]]typeDECLARE @Format CHAR(1)         = ''   -- '',+,-,0,#,' '      , @Width INT              = 6    -- display field size      , @Precision INT          = 3    -- characters to display      , @Type CHAR(1)           = 'X'  -- s, d, i, u, o, x, X      , @Binary VARBINARY(128)  = 0x1239       , @Int INT                = 11                      , @String NVARCHAR(128)   = N'test';  DECLARE @$QL NVARCHAR(256) = ( SELECT FORMATMESSAGE( N'SELECT FORMATMESSAGE(''%%s -->%%%s*.*%s<--'', @$QL, %i, %i, %s)'                      , s.Flag                       , f.Type                      , @Width                      , @Precision                       , CASE WHEN @Type = 's'                              THEN FORMATMESSAGE('''%s''', @String)                             WHEN @Type = 'd'                             THEN FORMATMESSAGE('%d', @Int)                             WHEN @Type = 'i'                             THEN FORMATMESSAGE('%i', @Int)                             WHEN @Type = 'u'                             THEN FORMATMESSAGE('%u', @Int)                             WHEN @Type = 'o'                             THEN FORMATMESSAGE('%o', @Int)                             WHEN @Type = 'x'                             THEN FORMATMESSAGE('%x', @Binary)                             WHEN @Type = 'X'                             THEN FORMATMESSAGE('%X', @Binary)                             END )   FROM (SELECT           ('') AS Flag         UNION ALL SELECT ('+')          UNION ALL SELECT ('-')          UNION ALL SELECT ('0')          UNION ALL SELECT ('#')          UNION ALL SELECT (' ') ) AS s         CROSS JOIN (SELECT           ('s') AS Type               UNION ALL SELECT ('d')               UNION ALL SELECT ('i')               UNION ALL SELECT ('u')               UNION ALL SELECT ('o')               UNION ALL SELECT (LOWER('x'))               UNION ALL SELECT (UPPER('X')) ) as f   WHERE CHARINDEX(@Format,s.Flag) > 0   AND ASCII(f.Type) = ASCII(@Type) );EXEC sp_executesql @$QL, N'@$QL NVARCHAR(256)', @$QL;
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Answer 1

Hi Databyter,
Based on my testing, the first query runs fine in a SQL Server 2012 while I got the same error in your post when trying to run it in a SQL Server 2008R2.
After going through the BOL of the FORMATMESSAGE for both versions, something came into my sight.  The note below was removed in the 2012 BOL.
FORMATMESSAGE works only with messages created using
sp_addmessage.
BOL:FORMATMESSAGE(2008)
BOL:FORMATMESSAGE(2012)
The messages created using sp_addmessage can be viewed by using the sys.messages. Thus in SQL Server 2008, you have to follow the example to use the function or you get the error in your post.
SELECT * FROM sys.messages WHERE message_id = 20009 AND language_id = 1033;
DECLARE @var1 VARCHAR(200);
SELECT @var1 = FORMATMESSAGE(20009, 'First Variable', 'Second Variable');
SELECT @var1;
For some reason the limitation is removed in SQL Server 2012, that's why your first query runs fine.
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