How do I check if #tempTable exists?

Question

Is there a way in T-SQL  to check to see if a #tempTable exists?  I want to write a proc the uses a temp table, but I first need to see if the table already exists.  if it does I want to drop it, otherwise skip

Answer 1

Remember that temporary tables are specific to a user, so #test does not exist in tempdb.  It will be named something like #test_____________________. 
So select object_id('tempdb..#test') will fail.  You will need to use something like:
SELECT [name] FROM tempdb.dbo.sysobjects WHERE xtype = 'U' and [name] like '#test%'
In SQL 2005 you should also be using the new schemas which are much easier to understand:
SELECT [name] FROM tempdb.sys.tables WHERE [name] like '#test%'
And in SQL2005 there's an easier way without having to resort to tempdb at all.  Use the Try..Catch block.  In my example, I've put a message in the Catch block, but if you leave it blank the statement will not fail if the table doesn't exist.  It would if you tried a plain DROP TABLE #test on a non-existent table.
BEGIN TRY
  DROP TABLE #test
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
  PRINT 'does not exist'
END CATCH