Error creating UDF in SQL Server 2005

Question

I'm trying to create a UDF in SQL Server 2005 Express as below:

CREATE FUNCTION [CombineValues] ()
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000)
AS
BEGIN

DECLARE @CuisineList VARCHAR(8000);

RETURN 
    (
    SELECT @CuisineList = COALESCE(@CuisineList + ', ', '') + 
        CAST(Cuisine AS varchar(20))
    FROM Cuisines
    )
END

Cuisines has the structure:

CuisineID INT PK,
Cuisine VARCHAR(20)

When I try to create the function as above, I get an error:

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Procedure CombineValues, Line 10 Incorrect syntax near '='.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

This answer is from the original poster, Wild Thing. Please do not vote it up or down.

CREATE FUNCTION [CombineValues] ()
RETURNS VARCHAR(8000)
AS
BEGIN

DECLARE @CuisineList VARCHAR(8000);

SELECT @CuisineList = COALESCE(@CuisineList + ', ', '') + CAST(Cuisine AS varchar(20)) FROM Cuisines;

RETURN 
(
SELECT @CuisineList
)
END