does a view refresh itself when i reference it? (was "Question On Views")

guys, ive never worked with Views before so forgive me.
i know how to create one, and that it creates a virtual table in memory, but i've got one small question.

if i create a view:

CREATE view dbo.myView
as
select Distinct FirstName,LastName from SomeTable

When ever i reference that view, such as
Select FirstName,LastName
from myView
where LastName like 'Jo%'

does that View Refresh itself??

in other words does it run each time i Reference it? or is it static from when i created it.

Wouldnt it be easier just to use a #TempTable or some other Table thats used to hold a few values?

thanks for any help
rikDont worry man ,view is not static .It always fetch records from base table.It is uptodate unless u r using index on views|||You know - I've always thought that the definition of a view as something like a virtual table as very confusing. When I studied relational databases the chapter on views made an assumption that the reader would be very confused at what differentiated a view from a table and spent line after line emphasising the difference. "No " thought I "I can very well differentiate a view from a table - what the flip is the distinction between a view and a query?"

The way I tend to think of views (indexed views excluded) is that a view is best thought of as a persistent, optimised, stored query that can usually be treated in the same way that you would treat a table as far as viewing data is concerned. It is, however, just that - a view of the data. As such, it does not store any data itself. Every time you call it it views the data afresh.

HTH|||thank you guys so much. that's exactly the answer i was looking for.
thanks again
rik