Updating nullability of columns in SQL 2008 - sql-server

I have a very wide table, containing lots and lots of bit fields. These bit fields were originally set up as nullable. Now we've just made a decision that it doesn't make sense to have them nullable; the value is either Yes or No, default No. In other words, the schema should change from:
create table MyTable(
ID bigint not null,
Name varchar(100) not null,
BitField1 bit null,
BitField2 bit null,
...
BitFieldN bit null
)
to
create table MyTable(
ID bigint not null,
Name varchar(100) not null,
BitField1 bit not null,
BitField2 bit not null,
...
BitFieldN bit not null
)
alter table MyTable add constraint DF_BitField1 default 0 for BitField1
alter table MyTable add constraint DF_BitField2 default 0 for BitField2
alter table MyTable add constraint DF_BitField3 default 0 for BitField3
So I've just gone in through the SQL Management Studio, updating all these fields to non-nullable, default value 0. And guess what - when I try to update it, SQL Mgmt studio internally recreates the table and then tries to reinsert all the data into the new table... including the null values! Which of course generates an error, because it's explicitly trying to insert a null value into a non-nullable column. Aaargh!
Obviously I could run N update statements of the form:
update MyTable set BitField1 = 0 where BitField1 is null
update MyTable set BitField2 = 0 where BitField2 is null
but as I said before, there are n fields out there, and what's more, this change has to propagate out to several identical databases. Very painful to implement manually.
Is there any way to make the table modification just ignore the null values and allow the default rule to kick in when you attempt to insert a null value?

If you're absolutely sure you want to do this for all the bit columns on the table, you can use a cursor to iterate over those columns and build the script dynamically. This is similar to Alexander's solution, except that it works if the columns aren't numbered 1..n (which I doubt -- I'm guessing those were probably simplified for illustration purposes).
DECLARE #colName sysname;
DECLARE #sql nvarchar(max);
DECLARE cur CURSOR LOCAL FAST_FORWARD FOR
SELECT COLUMN_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'MyTable' AND DATA_TYPE = 'bit' AND IS_NULLABLE = 'YES';
OPEN cur;
FETCH NEXT FROM cur INTO #colName;
WHILE ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
SET #sql = N'UPDATE [MyTable] SET ' + QUOTENAME(#colName)
+ N' = 0 WHERE ' + QUOTENAME(#colName) + N' IS NULL;'
+ N'ALTER TABLE [MyTable] ALTER COLUMN ' + QUOTENAME(#colName)
+ N' bit NOT NULL;'
+ N'ALTER TABLE [MyTable] ADD CONSTRAINT ' + QUOTENAME('DF_' + #colName)
+ N' DEFAULT(0) FOR ' + QUOTENAME(#colName) + N';';
EXEC (#sql); -- Replace with PRINT #sql; if you want to test first.
FETCH NEXT FROM cur INTO #colName;
END
CLOSE cur;
DEALLOCATE cur;

I think after all I'm just going to go with the N update statements.
It's a once-off job to write the script, which is mostly copy-and-paste, and then I can run that script on all applicable databases.
Still, I'd be interested to know if there is another more efficient way of doing this...

DECLARE #command VARCHAR(8000)
DECLARE #index int
SET #index=0
WHILE #index<=N DO BEGIN
SET #command=#command+'update MyTable SET BitField'+cast(#index as varchar(3))+' = 0 WHERE BitField'+cast(#index as varchar(3))+' IS NULL'
EXEC(#command)
SET #index=#index+1
END
and so on...

Related

SQL: How to insert the result of a stored procedure to a temp table [duplicate]

How do I do a SELECT * INTO [temp table] FROM [stored procedure]? Not FROM [Table] and without defining [temp table]?
Select all data from BusinessLine into tmpBusLine works fine.
select *
into tmpBusLine
from BusinessLine
I am trying the same, but using a stored procedure that returns data, is not quite the same.
select *
into tmpBusLine
from
exec getBusinessLineHistory '16 Mar 2009'
Output message:
Msg 156, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Incorrect syntax near the keyword
'exec'.
I have read several examples of creating a temporary table with the same structure as the output stored procedure, which works fine, but it would be nice to not supply any columns.
You can use OPENROWSET for this. Have a look. I've also included the sp_configure code to enable Ad Hoc Distributed Queries, in case it isn't already enabled.
CREATE PROC getBusinessLineHistory
AS
BEGIN
SELECT * FROM sys.databases
END
GO
sp_configure 'Show Advanced Options', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO
sp_configure 'Ad Hoc Distributed Queries', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO
SELECT * INTO #MyTempTable FROM OPENROWSET('SQLNCLI', 'Server=(local)\SQL2008;Trusted_Connection=yes;',
'EXEC getBusinessLineHistory')
SELECT * FROM #MyTempTable
If you want to do it without first declaring the temporary table, you could try creating a user-defined function rather than a stored procedure and make that user-defined function return a table. Alternatively, if you want to use the stored procedure, try something like this:
CREATE TABLE #tmpBus
(
COL1 INT,
COL2 INT
)
INSERT INTO #tmpBus
Exec SpGetRecords 'Params'
In SQL Server 2005 you can use INSERT INTO ... EXEC to insert the result of a stored procedure into a table. From MSDN's INSERT documentation (for SQL Server 2000, in fact):
--INSERT...EXECUTE procedure example
INSERT author_sales EXECUTE get_author_sales
This is an answer to a slightly modified version of your question. If you can abandon the use of a stored procedure for a user-defined function, you can use an inline table-valued user-defined function. This is essentially a stored procedure (will take parameters) that returns a table as a result set; and therefore will place nicely with an INTO statement.
Here's a good quick article on it and other user-defined functions. If you still have a driving need for a stored procedure, you can wrap the inline table-valued user-defined function with a stored procedure. The stored procedure just passes parameters when it calls select * from the inline table-valued user-defined function.
So for instance, you'd have an inline table-valued user-defined function to get a list of customers for a particular region:
CREATE FUNCTION CustomersByRegion
(
#RegionID int
)
RETURNS TABLE
AS
RETURN
SELECT *
FROM customers
WHERE RegionID = #RegionID
GO
You can then call this function to get what your results a such:
SELECT * FROM CustomersbyRegion(1)
Or to do a SELECT INTO:
SELECT * INTO CustList FROM CustomersbyRegion(1)
If you still need a stored procedure, then wrap the function as such:
CREATE PROCEDURE uspCustomersByRegion
(
#regionID int
)
AS
BEGIN
SELECT * FROM CustomersbyRegion(#regionID);
END
GO
I think this is the most 'hack-less' method to obtain the desired results. It uses the existing features as they were intended to be used without additional complications. By nesting the inline table-valued user-defined function in the stored procedure, you have access to the functionality in two ways. Plus! You have only one point of maintenance for the actual SQL code.
The use of OPENROWSET has been suggested, but this is not what the OPENROWSET function was intended to be used for (From Books Online):
Includes all connection information
that is required to access remote data
from an OLE DB data source. This
method is an alternative to accessing
tables in a linked server and is a
one-time, ad hoc method of connecting
and accessing remote data by using OLE
DB. For more frequent references to
OLE DB data sources, use linked
servers instead.
Using OPENROWSET will get the job done, but it will incur some additional overhead for opening up local connections and marshalling data. It also may not be an option in all cases since it requires an ad hoc query permission which poses a security risk and therefore may not be desired. Also, the OPENROWSET approach will preclude the use of stored procedures returning more than one result set. Wrapping multiple inline table-value user-defined functions in a single stored procedure can achieve this.
Select ##ServerName
EXEC sp_serveroption ##ServerName, 'DATA ACCESS', TRUE
SELECT *
INTO #tmpTable
FROM OPENQUERY(YOURSERVERNAME, 'EXEC db.schema.sproc 1')
Easiest Solution:
CREATE TABLE #temp (...);
INSERT INTO #temp
EXEC [sproc];
If you don't know the schema then you can do the following. Please
note that there are severe security risks in this method.
SELECT *
INTO #temp
FROM OPENROWSET('SQLNCLI',
'Server=localhost;Trusted_Connection=yes;',
'EXEC [db].[schema].[sproc]')
When the stored procedure returns a lot of columns and you do not want to manually "create" a temporary table to hold the result, I've found the easiest way is to go into the stored procedure and add an "into" clause on the last select statement and add 1=0 to the where clause.
Run the stored procedure once and go back and remove the SQL code you just added. Now, you'll have an empty table matching the stored procedure's result. You could either "script table as create" for a temporary table or simply insert directly into that table.
declare #temp table
(
name varchar(255),
field varchar(255),
filename varchar(255),
filegroup varchar(255),
size varchar(255),
maxsize varchar(255),
growth varchar(255),
usage varchar(255)
);
INSERT #temp Exec sp_helpfile;
select * from #temp;
If the results table of your stored proc is too complicated to type out the "create table" statement by hand, and you can't use OPENQUERY OR OPENROWSET, you can use sp_help to generate the list of columns and data types for you. Once you have the list of columns, it's just a matter of formatting it to suit your needs.
Step 1: Add "into #temp" to the output query (e.g. "select [...] into #temp from [...]").
The easiest way is to edit the output query in the proc directly. if you can't change the stored proc, you can copy the contents into a new query window and modify the query there.
Step 2: Run sp_help on the temp table. (e.g. "exec tempdb..sp_help #temp")
After creating the temp table, run sp_help on the temp table to get a list of the columns and data types including the size of varchar fields.
Step 3: Copy the data columns & types into a create table statement
I have an Excel sheet that I use to format the output of sp_help into a "create table" statement. You don't need anything that fancy, just copy and paste into your SQL editor. Use the column names, sizes, and types to construct a "Create table #x [...]" or "declare #x table [...]" statement which you can use to INSERT the results of the stored procedure.
Step 4: Insert into the newly created table
Now you'll have a query that's like the other solutions described in this thread.
DECLARE #t TABLE
(
--these columns were copied from sp_help
COL1 INT,
COL2 INT
)
INSERT INTO #t
Exec spMyProc
This technique can also be used to convert a temp table (#temp) to a table variable (#temp). While this may be more steps than just writing the create table statement yourself, it prevents manual error such as typos and data type mismatches in large processes. Debugging a typo can take more time than writing the query in the first place.
Does your stored procedure only retrieve the data or modify it too? If it's used only for retrieving, you can convert the stored procedure into a function and use the Common Table Expressions (CTEs) without having to declare it, as follows:
with temp as (
select * from dbo.fnFunctionName(10, 20)
)
select col1, col2 from temp
However, whatever needs to be retrieved from the CTE should be used in one statement only. You cannot do a with temp as ... and try to use it after a couple of lines of SQL. You can have multiple CTEs in one statement for more complex queries.
For example,
with temp1020 as (
select id from dbo.fnFunctionName(10, 20)
),
temp2030 as (
select id from dbo.fnFunctionName(20, 30)
)
select * from temp1020
where id not in (select id from temp2030)
If the OPENROWSET is causing you issues, there is another way from 2012 onwards; make use of sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object, as mentioned here: Retrieve column names and types of a stored procedure?
First, create this stored procedure to generate the SQL for the temporary table:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.usp_GetStoredProcTableDefinition(
#ProcedureName nvarchar(128),
#TableName nvarchar(128),
#SQL nvarchar(max) OUTPUT
)
AS
SET #SQL = 'CREATE TABLE ' + #tableName + ' ('
SELECT #SQL = #SQL + '['+name +'] '+ system_type_name +'' + ','
FROM sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object
(
OBJECT_ID(#ProcedureName),
NULL
);
--Remove trailing comma
SET #SQL = SUBSTRING(#SQL,0,LEN(#SQL))
SET #SQL = #SQL +')'
To use the procedure, call it in the following way:
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(MAX)
exec dbo.usp_GetStoredProcTableDefinition
#ProcedureName='dbo.usp_YourProcedure',
#TableName='##YourGlobalTempTable',#SQL = #SQL OUTPUT
INSERT INTO ##YourGlobalTempTable
EXEC [dbo].usp_YourProcedure
select * from ##YourGlobalTempTable
Note that I'm using a global temporary table. That's because using EXEC to run the dynamic SQL creates its own session, so an ordinary temporary table would be out of scope to any subsequent code. If a global temporary table is a problem, you can use an ordinary temporary table, but any subsequent SQL would need to be dynamic, that is, also executed by the EXEC statement.
Quassnoi put me most of the way there, but one thing was missing:
****I needed to use parameters in the stored procedure.****
And OPENQUERY does not allow for this to happen:
So I found a way to work the system and also not have to make the table definition so rigid, and redefine it inside another stored procedure (and of course take the chance it may break)!
Yes, you can dynamically create the table definition returned from the stored procedure by
using the OPENQUERY statement with bogus varaiables (as long the NO RESULT SET returns the
same number of fields and in the same position as a dataset with good data).
Once the table is created, you can use exec stored procedure into the temporary table all day long.
And to note (as indicated above) you must enable data access,
EXEC sp_serveroption 'MYSERVERNAME', 'DATA ACCESS', TRUE
Code:
declare #locCompanyId varchar(8)
declare #locDateOne datetime
declare #locDateTwo datetime
set #locDateOne = '2/11/2010'
set #locDateTwo = getdate()
--Build temporary table (based on bogus variable values)
--because we just want the table definition and
--since openquery does not allow variable definitions...
--I am going to use bogus variables to get the table defintion.
select * into #tempCoAttendanceRpt20100211
FROM OPENQUERY(DBASESERVER,
'EXEC DATABASE.dbo.Proc_MyStoredProc 1,"2/1/2010","2/15/2010 3:00 pm"')
set #locCompanyId = '7753231'
insert into #tempCoAttendanceRpt20100211
EXEC DATABASE.dbo.Proc_MyStoredProc #locCompanyId,#locDateOne,#locDateTwo
set #locCompanyId = '9872231'
insert into #tempCoAttendanceRpt20100211
EXEC DATABASE.dbo.Proc_MyStoredProc #locCompanyId,#locDateOne,#locDateTwo
select * from #tempCoAttendanceRpt20100211
drop table #tempCoAttendanceRpt20100211
Thanks for the information which was provided originally...
Yes, finally I do not have to create all these bogus (strict) table defintions when using data from
another stored procedure or database, and yes you can use parameters too.
Search reference tags:
SQL 2005 stored procedure into temp table
openquery with stored procedure and variables 2005
openquery with variables
execute stored procedure into temp table
Update: this will not work with temporary tables so I had to resort to manually creating the temporary table.
Bummer notice: this will not work with temporary tables, http://www.sommarskog.se/share_data.html#OPENQUERY
Reference: The next thing is to define LOCALSERVER. It may look like a keyword in the example, but it is in fact only a name. This is how you do it:
sp_addlinkedserver #server = 'LOCALSERVER', #srvproduct = '',
#provider = 'SQLOLEDB', #datasrc = ##servername
To create a linked server, you must have the permission ALTER ANY SERVER, or be a member of any of the fixed server roles sysadmin or setupadmin.
OPENQUERY opens a new connection to SQL Server. This has some implications:
The procedure that you call with OPENQUERY cannot refer temporary tables created in the current connection.
The new connection has its own default database (defined with sp_addlinkedserver, default is master), so all object specification must include a database name.
If you have an open transaction and are holding locks when you call OPENQUERY, the called procedure can not access what you lock. That is, if you are not careful you will block yourself.
Connecting is not for free, so there is a performance penalty.
If you're lucky enough to have SQL 2012 or higher, you can use dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object
I have just edited the sql provided by gotqn. Thanks gotqn.
This creates a global temp table with name same as procedure name. The temp table can later be used as required. Just don't forget to drop it before re-executing.
declare #procname nvarchar(255) = 'myProcedure',
#sql nvarchar(max)
set #sql = 'create table ##' + #procname + ' ('
begin
select #sql = #sql + '[' + r.name + '] ' + r.system_type_name + ','
from sys.procedures AS p
cross apply sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object(p.object_id, 0) AS r
where p.name = #procname
set #sql = substring(#sql,1,len(#sql)-1) + ')'
execute (#sql)
execute('insert ##' + #procname + ' exec ' + #procname)
end
This stored proc does the job:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[ExecIntoTable]
(
#tableName NVARCHAR(256),
#storedProcWithParameters NVARCHAR(MAX)
)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #driver VARCHAR(10)
DECLARE #connectionString NVARCHAR(600)
DECLARE #sql NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #rowsetSql NVARCHAR(MAX)
SET #driver = '''SQLNCLI'''
SET #connectionString =
'''server=' +
CAST(SERVERPROPERTY('ServerName') AS NVARCHAR(256)) +
COALESCE('\' + CAST(SERVERPROPERTY('InstanceName') AS NVARCHAR(256)), '') +
';trusted_connection=yes'''
SET #rowsetSql = '''EXEC ' + REPLACE(#storedProcWithParameters, '''', '''''') + ''''
SET #sql = '
SELECT
*
INTO
' + #tableName + '
FROM
OPENROWSET(' + #driver + ',' + #connectionString + ',' + #rowsetSql + ')'
EXEC (#sql)
END
GO
It's a slight rework of this: Insert stored procedure results into table so that it actually works.
If you want it to work with a temporary table then you will need to use a ##GLOBAL table and drop it afterwards.
In order to insert the first record set of a stored procedure into a temporary table you need to know the following:
only the first row set of the stored procedure can be inserted into a temporary table
the stored procedure must not execute dynamic T-SQL statement (sp_executesql)
you need to define the structure of the temporary table first
The above may look as limitation, but IMHO it perfectly makes sense - if you are using sp_executesql you can once return two columns and once ten, and if you have multiple result sets, you cannot insert them into several tables as well - you can insert maximum in two table in one T-SQL statement (using OUTPUT clause and no triggers).
So, the issue is mainly how to define the temporary table structure before performing the EXEC ... INTO ... statement.
sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object
sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set
sp_describe_first_result_set
The first works with OBJECT_ID while the second and the third works with Ad-hoc queries as well. I prefer to use the DMV instead of the sp as you can use CROSS APPLY and build the temporary table definitions for multiple procedures at the same time.
SELECT p.name, r.*
FROM sys.procedures AS p
CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object(p.object_id, 0) AS r;
Also, pay attention to the system_type_name field as it can be very useful. It stores the column complete definition. For, example:
smalldatetime
nvarchar(max)
uniqueidentifier
nvarchar(1000)
real
smalldatetime
decimal(18,2)
and you can use it directly in most of the cases to create the table definition.
So, I think in most of the cases (if the stored procedure match certain criteria) you can easily build dynamic statements for solving such issues (create the temporary table, insert the stored procedure result in it, do what you need with the data).
Note, that the objects above fail to define the first result set data in some cases like when dynamic T-SQL statements are executed or temporary tables are used in the stored procedure.
I'm creating a table with the following schema and data.
Create a stored procedure.
Now I know what the result of my procedure is, so I am performing the following query.
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[tblTestingTree](
[Id] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[ParentId] [int] NULL,
[IsLeft] [bit] NULL,
[IsRight] [bit] NULL,
CONSTRAINT [PK_tblTestingTree] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
(
[Id] ASC
) WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
SET IDENTITY_INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ON
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (1, NULL, NULL, NULL)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (2, 1, 1, NULL)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (3, 1, NULL, 1)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (4, 2, 1, NULL)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (5, 2, NULL, 1)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (6, 3, 1, NULL)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (7, 3, NULL, 1)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (8, 4, 1, NULL)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (9, 4, NULL, 1)
INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] ([Id], [ParentId], [IsLeft], [IsRight]) VALUES (10, 5, 1, NULL)
SET IDENTITY_INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] OFF
VALUES (10, 5, 1, NULL)
SET IDENTITY_INSERT [dbo].[tblTestingTree] On
create procedure GetDate
as
begin
select Id,ParentId from tblTestingTree
end
create table tbltemp
(
id int,
ParentId int
)
insert into tbltemp
exec GetDate
select * from tbltemp;
If the query doesn't contain parameter, use OpenQuery else use OpenRowset.
Basic thing would be to create schema as per stored procedure and insert into that table. e.g.:
DECLARE #abc TABLE(
RequisitionTypeSourceTypeID INT
, RequisitionTypeID INT
, RequisitionSourcingTypeID INT
, AutoDistOverride INT
, AllowManagerToWithdrawDistributedReq INT
, ResumeRequired INT
, WarnSupplierOnDNRReqSubmission INT
, MSPApprovalReqd INT
, EnableMSPSupplierCounterOffer INT
, RequireVendorToAcceptOffer INT
, UseCertification INT
, UseCompetency INT
, RequireRequisitionTemplate INT
, CreatedByID INT
, CreatedDate DATE
, ModifiedByID INT
, ModifiedDate DATE
, UseCandidateScheduledHours INT
, WeekEndingDayOfWeekID INT
, AllowAutoEnroll INT
)
INSERT INTO #abc
EXEC [dbo].[usp_MySp] 726,3
SELECT * FROM #abc
Code
CREATE TABLE #T1
(
col1 INT NOT NULL,
col2 NCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
col3 TEXT NOT NULL,
col4 DATETIME NULL,
col5 NCHAR(50) NULL,
col6 CHAR(2) NULL,
col6 NCHAR(100) NULL,
col7 INT NULL,
col8 NCHAR(50) NULL,
col9 DATETIME NULL,
col10 DATETIME NULL
)
DECLARE #Para1 int
DECLARE #Para2 varchar(32)
DECLARE #Para3 varchar(100)
DECLARE #Para4 varchar(15)
DECLARE #Para5 varchar (12)
DECLARE #Para6 varchar(1)
DECLARE #Para7 varchar(1)
SET #Para1 = 1025
SET #Para2 = N'6as54fsd56f46sd4f65sd'
SET #Para3 = N'XXXX\UserName'
SET #Para4 = N'127.0.0.1'
SET #Para5 = N'XXXXXXX'
SET #Para6 = N'X'
SET #Para7 = N'X'
INSERT INTO #T1
(
col1,
col2,
col3,
col4,
col5,
col6,
col6,
col7,
col8,
col9,
col10,
)
EXEC [dbo].[usp_ProcedureName] #Para1, #Para2, #Para3, #Para4, #Para5, #Para6, #Para6
I hope this helps. Please qualify as appropriate.
I found Passing Arrays/DataTables into Stored Procedures which might give you another idea on how you might go solving your problem.
The link suggests to use an Image type parameter to pass into the stored procedure. Then in the stored procedure, the image is transformed into a table variable containing the original data.
Maybe there is a way this can be used with a temporary table.
I met the same problem and here is what I did for this from Paul's suggestion. The main part is here is to use NEWID() to avoid multiple users run the store procedures/scripts at the same time, the pain for global temporary table.
DECLARE #sql varchar(max) = '',
#tmp_global_table varchar(255) = '##global_tmp_' + CONVERT(varchar(36), NEWID())
SET #sql = #sql + 'select * into [' + #tmp_global_table + '] from YOURTABLE'
EXEC(#sql)
EXEC('SELECT * FROM [' + #tmp_global_table + ']')
Another method is to create a type and use PIPELINED to then pass back your object. This is limited to knowing the columns however. But it has the advantage of being able to do:
SELECT *
FROM TABLE(CAST(f$my_functions('8028767') AS my_tab_type))
This can be done in SQL Server 2014+ provided the stored procedure only returns one table. If anyone finds a way of doing this for multiple tables I'd love to know about it.
DECLARE #storedProcname NVARCHAR(MAX) = ''
SET #storedProcname = 'myStoredProc'
DECLARE #strSQL AS VARCHAR(MAX) = 'CREATE TABLE myTableName '
SELECT #strSQL = #strSQL+STUFF((
SELECT ',' +name+' ' + system_type_name
FROM sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object (OBJECT_ID(#storedProcname),0)
FOR XML PATH('')
),1,1,'(') + ')'
EXEC (#strSQL)
INSERT INTO myTableName
EXEC ('myStoredProc #param1=1, #param2=2')
SELECT * FROM myTableName
DROP TABLE myTableName
This pulls the definition of the returned table from system tables, and uses that to build the temp table for you. You can then populate it from the stored procedure as stated before.
There are also variants of this that work with Dynamic SQL too.
After searching around I found a way to create a temp table dynamically for any stored procedure without using OPENROWSET or OPENQUERY using a generic schema of Stored Procedure's result definition especially when you are not database Administrator.
Sql server has a buit-in proc sp_describe_first_result_set that can provide you with schema of any procedures resultset. I created a schema table from results of this procedure and manually set all the field to NULLABLE.
declare #procname varchar(100) = 'PROCEDURENAME' -- your procedure name
declare #param varchar(max) = '''2019-06-06''' -- your parameters
declare #execstr nvarchar(max) = N'exec ' + #procname
declare #qry nvarchar(max)
-- Schema table to store the result from sp_describe_first_result_set.
create table #d
(is_hidden bit NULL, column_ordinal int NULL, name sysname NULL, is_nullable bit NULL, system_type_id int NULL, system_type_name nvarchar(256) NULL,
max_length smallint NULL, precision tinyint NULL, scale tinyint NULL, collation_name sysname NULL, user_type_id int NULL, user_type_database sysname NULL,
user_type_schema sysname NULL,user_type_name sysname NULL,assembly_qualified_type_name nvarchar(4000),xml_collection_id int NULL,xml_collection_database sysname NULL,
xml_collection_schema sysname NULL,xml_collection_name sysname NULL,is_xml_document bit NULL,is_case_sensitive bit NULL,is_fixed_length_clr_type bit NULL,
source_server sysname NULL,source_database sysname NULL,source_schema sysname NULL,source_table sysname NULL,source_column sysname NULL,is_identity_column bit NULL,
is_part_of_unique_key bit NULL,is_updateable bit NULL,is_computed_column bit NULL,is_sparse_column_set bit NULL,ordinal_in_order_by_list smallint NULL,
order_by_list_length smallint NULL,order_by_is_descending smallint NULL,tds_type_id int NULL,tds_length int NULL,tds_collation_id int NULL,
tds_collation_sort_id tinyint NULL)
-- Get result set definition of your procedure
insert into #d
EXEC sp_describe_first_result_set #exestr, NULL, 0
-- Create a query to generate and populate a global temp table from above results
select
#qry = 'Create table ##t(' +
stuff(
(select ',' + name + ' '+ system_type_name + ' NULL'
from #d d For XML Path, TYPE)
.value(N'.[1]', N'nvarchar(max)')
, 1,1,'')
+ ')
insert into ##t
Exec '+#procname+' ' + #param
Exec sp_executesql #qry
-- Use below global temp table to query the data as you may
select * from ##t
-- **WARNING** Don't forget to drop the global temp table ##t.
--drop table ##t
drop table #d
Developed and tested on Sql Server version - Microsoft SQL Server 2016 (RTM) - 13.0.1601.5(Build 17134:)
You can tweak the schema for your SQL server version that you are using (if needed).
It's a simple 2 step process:
- create a temporary table
- Insert into the temporary table.
Code to perform the same:
CREATE TABLE #tempTable (Column1 int, Column2 varchar(max));
INSERT INTO #tempTable
EXEC [app].[Sproc_name]
#param1 = 1,
#param2 =2;
If you know the parameters that are being passed and if you don't have access to make sp_configure, then edit the stored procedure with these parameters and the same can be stored in a ##global table.
A few years late to the question, but I needed something like this for some quick and dirty code generation. I believe as others have stated it is just easier to define the temp table up front, but this method should work for simple stored procedure queries or sql statments.
This will be a little convoluted, but it borrows from the contributors here as well as Paul White's solution from DBA Stack Exchange Get stored procedure result column-types. Again, to reiterate this approach & example is not designed for processes in a multi user environment. In this case the table definition is being set for a short time in a global temp table for reference by a code generation template process.
I haven't fully tested this so there may be caveats so you may want to go to the MSDN link in Paul White's answer. This applies to SQL 2012 and higher.
First use the stored procedure sp_describe_first_result_set which resembles Oracle's describe.
This will evaluate the first row of the first result set so if your stored procedure or statement returns multiple queries it will only describe the first result.
I created a stored proc to break down the tasks that returns a single field to select from to create the temp table definition.
CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_GetTableDefinitionFromSqlBatch_DescribeFirstResultSet]
(
#sql NVARCHAR(4000)
,#table_name VARCHAR(100)
,#TableDefinition NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT
)
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON
DECLARE #TempTableDefinition NVARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE #NewLine NVARCHAR(4) = CHAR(13)+CHAR(10)
DECLARE #ResultDefinition TABLE ( --The View Definition per MSDN
is_hidden bit NOT NULL
, column_ordinal int NOT NULL
, [name] sysname NULL
, is_nullable bit NOT NULL
, system_type_id int NOT NULL
, system_type_name nvarchar(256) NULL
, max_length smallint NOT NULL
, [precision] tinyint NOT NULL
, scale tinyint NOT NULL
, collation_name sysname NULL
, user_type_id int NULL
, user_type_database sysname NULL
, user_type_schema sysname NULL
, user_type_name sysname NULL
, assembly_qualified_type_name nvarchar(4000)
, xml_collection_id int NULL
, xml_collection_database sysname NULL
, xml_collection_schema sysname NULL
, xml_collection_name sysname NULL
, is_xml_document bit NOT NULL
, is_case_sensitive bit NOT NULL
, is_fixed_length_clr_type bit NOT NULL
, source_server sysname NULL
, source_database sysname NULL
, source_schema sysname NULL
, source_table sysname NULL
, source_column sysname NULL
, is_identity_column bit NULL
, is_part_of_unique_key bit NULL
, is_updateable bit NULL
, is_computed_column bit NULL
, is_sparse_column_set bit NULL
, ordinal_in_order_by_list smallint NULL
, order_by_is_descending smallint NULL
, order_by_list_length smallint NULL
, tds_type_id int NOT NULL
, tds_length int NOT NULL
, tds_collation_id int NULL
, tds_collation_sort_id tinyint NULL
)
--Insert the description into table variable
INSERT #ResultDefinition
EXEC sp_describe_first_result_set #sql
--Now Build the string to create the table via union select statement
;WITH STMT AS (
SELECT N'CREATE TABLE ' + #table_name + N' (' AS TextVal
UNION ALL
SELECT
CONCAT(
CASE column_ordinal
WHEN 1 THEN ' ' ELSE ' , ' END --Determines if comma should precede
, QUOTENAME([name]) , ' ', system_type_name -- Column Name and SQL TYPE
,CASE is_nullable
WHEN 0 THEN ' NOT NULL' ELSE ' NULL' END --NULLABLE CONSTRAINT
) AS TextVal
FROM #ResultDefinition WHERE is_hidden = 0 -- May not be needed
UNION ALL
SELECT N');' + #NewLine
)
--Now Combine the rows to a single String
SELECT #TempTableDefinition = COALESCE (#TempTableDefinition + #NewLine + TextVal, TextVal) FROM STMT
SELECT #TableDefinition = #TempTableDefinition
END
The conundrum is that you need to use a global table, but you need to make it unique enough
so you can drop and create from it frequently without worrying about a collision.
In the example I used a Guid (FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E) for the global variable replacing the hyphens with underscore
DECLARE #sql NVARCHAR(4000) = N'SELECT ##SERVERNAME as ServerName, GETDATE() AS Today;'
DECLARE #GlobalTempTable VARCHAR(100) = N'##FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E_MyTempTable'
--#sql can be a stored procedure name like dbo.foo without parameters
DECLARE #TableDef NVARCHAR(MAX)
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #MyTempTable
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ##FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E_MyTempTable
EXEC [dbo].[sp_GetTableDefinitionFromSqlBatch_DescribeFirstResultSet]
#sql, #GlobalTempTable, #TableDef OUTPUT
--Creates the global table ##FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E_MyTempTable
EXEC sp_executesql #TableDef
--Now Call the stored procedure, SQL Statement with Params etc.
INSERT ##FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E_MyTempTable
EXEC sp_executesql #sql
--Select the results into your undefined Temp Table from the Global Table
SELECT *
INTO #MyTempTable
FROM ##FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E_MyTempTable
SELECT * FROM #MyTempTable
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #MyTempTable
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ##FE264BF5_9C32_438F_8462_8A5DC8DEE49E_MyTempTable
Again, I have only tested it with simple stored procedure queries and simple queries so your mileage may vary. Hope this helps someone.
Here is my T-SQL with parameters
--require one time execution if not configured before
sp_configure 'Show Advanced Options', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO
--require one time execution if not configured before
sp_configure 'Ad Hoc Distributed Queries', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO
--the query
DECLARE #param1 int = 1, #param2 int = 2
DECLARE #SQLStr varchar(max) = 'SELECT * INTO #MyTempTable
FROM OPENROWSET(''SQLNCLI'',
''Server=ServerName;Database=DbName;Trusted_Connection=yes'',
''exec StoredProcedureName '+ CAST(#param1 AS varchar(15)) +','+ CAST(#param2 AS varchar(15)) +''') AS a ;
select * from #MyTempTable;
drop table #MyTempTable
';
EXECUTE(#SQLStr);
Well, you do have to create a temp table, but it doesn't have to have the right schema....I've created a stored procedure that modifies an existing temp table so that it has the required columns with the right data type and order (dropping all existing columns, adding new columns):
GO
create procedure #TempTableForSP(#tableId int, #procedureId int)
as
begin
declare #tableName varchar(max) = (select name
from tempdb.sys.tables
where object_id = #tableId
);
declare #tsql nvarchar(max);
declare #tempId nvarchar(max) = newid();
set #tsql = '
declare #drop nvarchar(max) = (select ''alter table tempdb.dbo.' + #tableName
+ ' drop column '' + quotename(c.name) + '';''+ char(10)
from tempdb.sys.columns c
where c.object_id = ' +
cast(#tableId as varchar(max)) + '
for xml path('''')
)
alter table tempdb.dbo.' + #tableName + ' add ' + QUOTENAME(#tempId) + ' int;
exec sp_executeSQL #drop;
declare #add nvarchar(max) = (
select ''alter table ' + #tableName
+ ' add '' + name
+ '' '' + system_type_name
+ case when d.is_nullable=1 then '' null '' else '''' end
+ char(10)
from sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object('
+ cast(#procedureId as varchar(max)) + ', 0) d
order by column_ordinal
for xml path(''''))
execute sp_executeSQL #add;
alter table ' + #tableName + ' drop column ' + quotename(#tempId) + ' ';
execute sp_executeSQL #tsql;
end
GO
create table #exampleTable (pk int);
declare #tableId int = object_Id('tempdb..#exampleTable')
declare #procedureId int = object_id('examplestoredProcedure')
exec #TempTableForSP #tableId, #procedureId;
insert into #exampleTable
exec examplestoredProcedure
Note this won't work if sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object can't determine the results of the stored procedure (for instance if it uses a temp table).
If you let dynamic SQL create a temp table, this table is owned by the Dynamic SQL connection, as opposed to the connection your stored procedure is called from.
DECLARE #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS varchar(MAX);
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS KV;
CREATE TABLE KV (id_person int, mykey varchar(30), myvalue int);
INSERT INTO KV VALUES
(1, 'age', 16),
(1, 'weight', 63),
(1, 'height', 175),
(2, 'age', 26),
(2, 'weight', 83),
(2, 'height', 185);
WITH cte(mykey) AS (
SELECT DISTINCT mykey FROM KV
)
SELECT #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS=STRING_AGG(mykey,',') FROM cte;
SELECT #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS AS keys;
DECLARE #ExecuteExpression varchar(MAX);
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #Pivoted;
SET #ExecuteExpression = N'
SELECT *
INTO #Pivoted
FROM
(
SELECT
mykey,
myvalue,
id_person
FROM KV
) AS t
PIVOT(
MAX(t.myvalue)
FOR mykey IN (COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS)
) AS pivot_table;
';
SET #ExecuteExpression = REPLACE(#ExecuteExpression, 'COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS', #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS);
EXEC(#ExecuteExpression);
SELECT * FROM #Pivoted;
Msg 208, Level 16, State 0
Invalid object name '#Pivoted'.
This is because #Pivoted is owned by the Dynamic SQL connection. So the last instruction
SELECT * FROM #Pivoted
fails.
One way to not face this issue is to make sure all references to #Pivoted are made from inside the dynamic query itself:
DECLARE #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS varchar(MAX);
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS KV;
CREATE TABLE KV (id_person int, mykey varchar(30), myvalue int);
INSERT INTO KV VALUES
(1, 'age', 16),
(1, 'weight', 63),
(1, 'height', 175),
(2, 'age', 26),
(2, 'weight', 83),
(2, 'height', 185);
WITH cte(mykey) AS (
SELECT DISTINCT mykey FROM KV
)
SELECT #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS=STRING_AGG(mykey,',') FROM cte;
SELECT #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS AS keys;
DECLARE #ExecuteExpression varchar(MAX);
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS #Pivoted;
SET #ExecuteExpression = N'
SELECT *
INTO #Pivoted
FROM
(
SELECT
mykey,
myvalue,
id_person
FROM KV
) AS t
PIVOT(
MAX(t.myvalue)
FOR mykey IN (COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS)
) AS pivot_table;
SELECT * FROM #Pivoted;
';
SET #ExecuteExpression = REPLACE(#ExecuteExpression, 'COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS', #COMMA_SEPARATED_KEYS);
EXEC(#ExecuteExpression);
First, modify your stored procedure to save the end results in to a temp table. By doing this we are creating a table matching with the SP output fields. And then have a select statement to save that temp table to a any table name. Then execute the SP as explained in step 2
Step 1: modify your stored procedure to save the end results in to a temp table
[your stored procedure]
into #table_temp //this will insert the data to a temp table
from #table_temp
select * into SP_Output_Table_1 from #table_temp //this will save data to a actual table
Step 2: Execute the SP as below that will insert records to your table
Insert SP_Output_Table_1
EXE You_SP_Nane #Parameter1 = 52, #parameter2 =1

Removing Identity_Insert from a Temp Table that is Generated Dynamically

I've got a Stored Procedure that I want to audit all the changes it makes to many tables. This bit of code repeated down the SP but with different table names. Once that piece of script is finish I then copy the contents of the temp table to my audit table which works well.
I have a problem with one table which bring back this message: An explicit value for the identity column in table '#MyTempTable' can only be specified when a column list is used and IDENTITY_INSERT is ON.
I'm lazy, I don't want to specify all the column names. Is there a way to remove the identity from the temp table after I created it?
--Create Temp Audit Table
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#MyTempTable') IS NOT NULL drop table #MyTempTable;
select top 0 * into #MyTempTable from TabletoAudit
--Do changes and record into TempTable
UPDATE TabletoAudit
SET
series_nm = #newseries,
UPDATED_DT = GetDate()
OUTPUT deleted.* INTO #MyTempTable
WHERE
mach_type_cd = #mtype
AND
brand_id = #brand
AND
series_nm = #oldseries
--Copy Contents from Temp table to Audit Table
If the identity column is the first column (usually it is) then you can also:
assuming data type INT, column name originalid
SELECT top 0 CONVERT(INT,0)myid,* into #MyTempTable from TabletoAudit
ALTER TABLE #MyTempTable DROP COLUMN originalid
EXEC tempdb.sys.sp_rename N'#MyTempTable.myid', N'originalid', N'COLUMN'
I spent over a day researching into this but now finally found a solution. Simply when I create it, create it without the Identity in the first place. I did this by creating a dynamic script to create a temp table based on another and don't add identity.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..##MyTempTable') IS NOT NULL drop table ##INSERTED7;
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE #sql NVARCHAR(MAX);
DECLARE #CreateSQL NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET #sql = N'SELECT * FROM TabletoAudit;';
SELECT #CreateSQL = 'CREATE TABLE ##MyTempTable(';
SELECT
#CreateSQL = #CreateSQL + CASE column_ordinal
WHEN 1 THEN '' ELSE ',' END
+ name + ' ' + system_type_name + CASE is_nullable
WHEN 0 THEN ' not null' ELSE '' END
FROM
sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set (#sql, NULL, 0) AS f
ORDER BY column_ordinal;
SELECT #CreateSQL = #CreateSQL + ');';
EXEC sp_executesql #CreateSQL;
SET NOCOUNT OFF;
I also changed the Temp Table to a Global Temp Table for it to work.

Add a column, with a derived column name, to an existing table in SQL Server 2014

DECLARE
#countFlag INT,
#maxNum INT = 5,
#addingName NVARCHAR(6)
SET #countFlag = 1
WHILE (#countFlag <= #maxNum)
BEGIN
SET #addingName = 'name' + CAST(#countFlag AS NVARCHAR(2))
ALTER TABLE TableName
ADD
#addingName NVARCHAR(30)
SET #countFlag = #countFlag + 1
END
========================================================
This is called at the beginning of a set of procedures. #maxNum is actually passed in based on a question to the operator and changes the 'shape' of an existing db to include more columns. I would like to have the resulting column names be something like "name1" "name2" etc. but I am getting an "Incorrect syntax near '#addingName'" after the ADD statement when I execute it. What am I doing wrong here?
You cannot do it in that way, you should compose the query dynamically and execute it with Exec:
DECLARE #sqlCommand varchar(200)
SET #sqlCommand = 'ALTER TABLE TableName ADD ' + #addingName + ' NVARCHAR(30) '
EXEC (#sqlCommand)

How to detect interface break between stored procedure

I am working on a large project with a lot of stored procedures. I came into the following situation where a developer modified the arguments of a stored procedure which was called by another stored procedure.
Unfortunately, nothing prevents the ALTER PROC to complete.
Is there a way to perform those checks afterwards ?
What would be the guidelines to avoid getting into that kind of problems ?
Here is a sample code to reproduce this behavior :
CREATE PROC Test1 #arg1 int
AS
BEGIN
PRINT CONVERT(varchar(32), #arg1)
END
GO
CREATE PROC Test2 #arg1 int
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #arg int;
SET #arg = #arg1+1;
EXEC Test1 #arg;
END
GO
EXEC Test2 1;
GO
ALTER PROC Test1 #arg1 int, #arg2 int AS
BEGIN
PRINT CONVERT(varchar(32), #arg1)
PRINT CONVERT(varchar(32), #arg2)
END
GO
EXEC Test2 1;
GO
DROP PROC Test2
DROP PROC Test1
GO
Sql server 2005 has a system view sys.sql_dependencies that tracks dependencies. Unfortunately, it's not all that reliable (For more info, see this answer). Oracle, however, is much better in that regard. So you could switch. There's also a 3rd party vendor, Redgate, who has Sql Dependency Tracker. Never tested it myself but there is a trial version available.
I have the same problem so I implemented my poor man's solution by creating a stored procedure that can search for strings in all the stored procedures and views in the current database. By searching on the name of the changed stored procedure I can (hopefully) find EXEC calls.
I used this on sql server 2000 and 2008 so it probably also works on 2005. (Note : #word1, #word2, etc must all be present but that can easily be changed in the last SELECT if you have different needs.)
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[findWordsInStoredProceduresViews]
#word1 nvarchar(4000) = null,
#word2 nvarchar(4000) = null,
#word3 nvarchar(4000) = null,
#word4 nvarchar(4000) = null,
#word5 nvarchar(4000) = null
AS
BEGIN
-- SET NOCOUNT ON added to prevent extra result sets from
-- interfering with SELECT statements.
SET NOCOUNT ON;
-- create temp table
create table #temp
(
id int identity(1,1),
Proc_id INT,
Proc_Name SYSNAME,
Definition NTEXT
)
-- get the names of the procedures that meet our criteria
INSERT #temp(Proc_id, Proc_Name)
SELECT id, OBJECT_NAME(id)
FROM syscomments
WHERE OBJECTPROPERTY(id, 'IsProcedure') = 1 or
OBJECTPROPERTY(id, 'IsView') = 1
GROUP BY id, OBJECT_NAME(id)
-- initialize the NTEXT column so there is a pointer
UPDATE #temp SET Definition = ''
-- declare local variables
DECLARE
#txtPval binary(16),
#txtPidx INT,
#curText NVARCHAR(4000),
#counterId int,
#maxCounterId int,
#counterIdInner int,
#maxCounterIdInner int
-- set up a double while loop to get the data from syscomments
select #maxCounterId = max(id)
from #temp t
create table #tempInner
(
id int identity(1,1),
curName SYSNAME,
curtext ntext
)
set #counterId = 0
WHILE (#counterId < #maxCounterId)
BEGIN
set #counterId = #counterId + 1
insert into #tempInner(curName, curtext)
SELECT OBJECT_NAME(s.id), text
FROM syscomments s
INNER JOIN #temp t
ON s.id = t.Proc_id
WHERE t.id = #counterid
ORDER BY s.id, colid
select #maxCounterIdInner = max(id)
from #tempInner t
set #counterIdInner = 0
while (#counterIdInner < #maxCounterIdInner)
begin
set #counterIdInner = #counterIdInner + 1
-- get the pointer for the current procedure name / colid
SELECT #txtPval = TEXTPTR(Definition)
FROM #temp
WHERE id = #counterId
-- find out where to append the #temp table's value
SELECT #txtPidx = DATALENGTH(Definition)/2
FROM #temp
WHERE id = #counterId
select #curText = curtext
from #tempInner
where id = #counterIdInner
-- apply the append of the current 8KB chunk
UPDATETEXT #temp.definition #txtPval #txtPidx 0 #curtext
end
truncate table #tempInner
END
-- check our filter
SELECT Proc_Name, Definition
FROM #temp t
WHERE (#word1 is null or definition LIKE '%' + #word1 + '%') AND
(#word2 is null or definition LIKE '%' + #word2 + '%') AND
(#word3 is null or definition LIKE '%' + #word3 + '%') AND
(#word4 is null or definition LIKE '%' + #word4 + '%') AND
(#word5 is null or definition LIKE '%' + #word5 + '%')
ORDER BY Proc_Name
-- clean up
DROP TABLE #temp
DROP TABLE #tempInner
END
You can use sp_refreshsqlmodule to attempt to re-validate SPs (this also updates dependencies), but it won't validate this particular scenario with parameters at the caller level (it will validate things like invalid columns in tables and views).
http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1294 has a number of techniques, including sp_depends
Dependency information is stored in the SQL Server metadata, including parameter columns/types for each SP and function, but it isn't obvious how to validate all the calls, but it is possible to locate them and inspect them.

Alter column, add default constraint

I have a table and one of the columns is "Date" of type datetime. We decided to add a default constraint to that column
Alter table TableName
alter column dbo.TableName.Date default getutcdate()
but this gives me error:
Incorrect syntax near '.'
Does anyone see anything obviously wrong here, which I am missing (other than having a better name for the column)
Try this
alter table TableName
add constraint df_ConstraintNAme
default getutcdate() for [Date]
example
create table bla (id int)
alter table bla add constraint dt_bla default 1 for id
insert bla default values
select * from bla
also make sure you name the default constraint..it will be a pain in the neck to drop it later because it will have one of those crazy system generated names...see also How To Name Default Constraints And How To Drop Default Constraint Without A Name In SQL Server
you can wrap reserved words in square brackets to avoid these kinds of errors:
dbo.TableName.[Date]
Actually you have to Do Like below Example, which will help to Solve the Issue...
drop table ABC_table
create table ABC_table
(
names varchar(20),
age int
)
ALTER TABLE ABC_table
ADD CONSTRAINT MyConstraintName
DEFAULT 'This is not NULL' FOR names
insert into ABC(age) values(10)
select * from ABC
I use the stored procedure below to update the defaults on a column.
It automatically removes any prior defaults on the column, before adding the new default.
Examples of usage:
-- Update default to be a date.
exec [dbo].[AlterDefaultForColumn] '[dbo].[TableName]','Column','getdate()';
-- Update default to be a number.
exec [dbo].[AlterDefaultForColumn] '[dbo].[TableName]','Column,'6';
-- Update default to be a string. Note extra quotes, as this is not a function.
exec [dbo].[AlterDefaultForColumn] '[dbo].[TableName]','Column','''MyString''';
Stored procedure:
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
-- Sample function calls:
--exec [dbo].[AlterDefaultForColumn] '[dbo].[TableName]','ColumnName','getdate()';
--exec [dbol].[AlterDefaultForColumn] '[dbo].[TableName]','Column,'6';
--exec [dbo].[AlterDefaultForColumn] '[dbo].[TableName]','Column','''MyString''';
create PROCEDURE [dbo].[ColumnDefaultUpdate]
(
-- Table name, including schema, e.g. '[dbo].[TableName]'
#TABLE_NAME VARCHAR(100),
-- Column name, e.g. 'ColumnName'.
#COLUMN_NAME VARCHAR(100),
-- New default, e.g. '''MyDefault''' or 'getdate()'
-- Note that if you want to set it to a string constant, the contents
-- must be surrounded by extra quotes, e.g. '''MyConstant''' not 'MyConstant'
#NEW_DEFAULT VARCHAR(100)
)
AS
BEGIN
-- Trim angle brackets so things work even if they are included.
set #COLUMN_NAME = REPLACE(#COLUMN_NAME, '[', '')
set #COLUMN_NAME = REPLACE(#COLUMN_NAME, ']', '')
print 'Table name: ' + #TABLE_NAME;
print 'Column name: ' + #COLUMN_NAME;
DECLARE #ObjectName NVARCHAR(100)
SELECT #ObjectName = OBJECT_NAME([default_object_id]) FROM SYS.COLUMNS
WHERE [object_id] = OBJECT_ID(#TABLE_NAME) AND [name] = #COLUMN_NAME;
IF #ObjectName <> ''
begin
print 'Removed default: ' + #ObjectName;
--print('ALTER TABLE ' + #TABLE_NAME + ' DROP CONSTRAINT ' + #ObjectName)
EXEC('ALTER TABLE ' + #TABLE_NAME + ' DROP CONSTRAINT ' + #ObjectName)
end
EXEC('ALTER TABLE ' + #TABLE_NAME + ' ADD DEFAULT (' + #NEW_DEFAULT + ') FOR ' + #COLUMN_NAME)
--print('ALTER TABLE ' + #TABLE_NAME + ' ADD DEFAULT (' + #NEW_DEFAULT + ') FOR ' + #COLUMN_NAME)
print 'Added default of: ' + #NEW_DEFAULT;
END
Errors this stored procedure eliminates
If you attempt to add a default to a column when one already exists, you will get the following error (something you will never see if using this stored proc):
-- Using the stored procedure eliminates this error:
Msg 1781, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Column already has a DEFAULT bound to it.
Msg 1750, Level 16, State 0, Line 1
Could not create constraint. See previous errors.
I confirm like the comment from JohnH, never use column types in the your object names!
It's confusing. And use brackets if possible.
Try this:
ALTER TABLE [TableName]
ADD DEFAULT (getutcdate()) FOR [Date];
You're specifying the table name twice. The ALTER TABLE part names the table.
Try:
Alter table TableName
alter column [Date] default getutcdate()
alter table TableName
drop constraint DF_TableName_WhenEntered
alter table TableName
add constraint DF_TableName_WhenEntered
default getutcdate() for WhenEntered

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