In this article, I want to tell you about some useful undocumented stored procedures shipped with SQL Server 2000.
sp_MSget_qualified_nameThis stored procedure is used to get the qualified name for the given object id.
Syntax sp_MSget_qualified_name object_id, qualified_name |
where
object_id - is the object id. object_id is int.
qualified_name - is the qualified name of the object. qualified_name is nvarchar(512).
This is an example to get the qualified name for the authors table from the pubs database.
USE pubs GO DECLARE @object_id int, @qualified_name nvarchar(512) SELECT @object_id = object_id('authors') EXEC sp_MSget_qualified_name @object_id, @qualified_name OUTPUT SELECT @qualified_name GO |
Here is the result set from my machine:
-------------------------------------- [dbo].[authors] |
sp_MSdrop_object
This stored procedure is used to drop an object (it can be table, view, stored procedure or trigger) for the given object id, object name, and object owner. If object id is provided, then the object name and the object owner need not be specified.
Syntax
sp_MSdrop_object [object_id] [,object_name] [,object_owner] |
where
object_id - is the object id. object_id is int, with a default of NULL.
object_name - is the name of the object. object_name is sysname, with a default of NULL.
object_owner - is the object owner. object_owner is sysname, with a default of NULL.
This is the example of dropping the titleauthor table from the pubs database.
USE pubs GO DECLARE @object_id int SELECT @object_id = object_id('titleauthor') EXEC sp_MSdrop_object @object_id GO |
sp_gettypestring
This stored procedure returns the type of string for the given table id and column id.
Syntax
sp_gettypestring tabid, colid, typestring |
where
tabid - is the table id. tabid is int.
colid - is the column id. colid is int.
typestring - is the type string. It's an output parameter. typestring is nvarchar(255)
This is the example to get the type string for the column number 2 in the authors table, from the pubs database.
USE pubs GO DECLARE @tabid int, @typestring nvarchar(255) SELECT @tabid = object_id('authors') EXEC sp_gettypestring @tabid, 2, @typestring output SELECT @typestring GO |
Here is the result set from my machine:
------------------------------- varchar(40) |
sp_MSgettools_path
This stored procedure returns the path to the SQL Server 2000 tools and utilities.
Syntax
sp_MSgettools_path install_path |
where
install_path - is the installation path. It's output parameter. install_path is nvarchar(260).
This is the example to get the path to the SQL Server 2000 tools and utilities.
USE master GO DECLARE @install_path NVARCHAR(260) EXEC sp_MSgettools_path @install_path OUTPUT SELECT @install_path GO |
Here is the result set from my machine:
------------------------------------------------------------ C:/Program Files/Microsoft SQL Server/80/Tools |
sp_MScheck_uid_owns_anything
This stored procedure returns the list of the objects, owned by the specified user.
Syntax
sp_MScheck_uid_owns_anything uid |
where
uid - is the User ID, unique in this database. uid is smallint.
This is the example to get the list of the objects, owned by the database owner 1 in the pubs database.
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_MScheck_uid_owns_anything 1 GO |
sp_columns_rowset
This stored procedure returns the complete column description, including the length, type, name, and so on.
Syntax
sp_columns_rowset table_name [, table_schema ] [, column_name] |
where
table_name - is the table name. table_name is sysname.
table_schema - is the table schema. table_schema is sysname, with a default of NULL.
column_name - is the column name. column_name is sysname, with a default of NULL.
This is the example:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_columns_rowset 'authors' GO |
sp_fixindex
This stored procedure can be used to fix corruption in a system table by recreating the index.
Syntax
sp_fixindex dbname, tabname, indid |
where
dbname - is the database name. dbname is sysname
tabname - is the system table name. tabname is sysname
indid - is the index id value. indid is int
Note. Before using this stored procedure the database has to be in single user mode.
See this link for more information:
http://www.windows2000faq.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=14051
This is the example:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_fixindex pubs, sysindexes, 2 GO |
sp_MSforeachdb
Sometimes, you need to perform the same actions for all tables in the database. You can create cursor for this purpose, or you can also use sp_MSforeachdb stored procedure to accomplish the same goal with less work.
For example, you can use this stored procedure to run a CHECKDB for all the databases on your server.
EXEC sp_MSforeachdb @command1="print '?' DBCC CHECKDB ('?')" |
sp_MSforeachtable
Sometimes, you need to perform the same actions for all tables in the database. You can create cursor for this purpose, or you can also use sp_MSforeachtable stored procedure to accomplish the same goal with less work.
For example, you can use this stored procedure to rebuild all the indexes in a database.
EXEC sp_MSforeachtable @command1="print '?' DBCC DBREINDEX ('?')" |
sp_MShelpcolumns
This stored procedure returns the complete schema for a table, including the length, type, name, and whether a column is computed.
Syntax
sp_MShelpcolumns tablename [, flags] [, orderby] [, flags2] |
where
tablename - is the table name. tablename is nvarchar(517).
flags - flags is int, with a default of 0.
orderby - orderby is nvarchar(10), with a default of NULL.
flags - flags2 is int, with a default of 0.
To get the full columns description for the authors table in the pubs database, run:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_MShelpcolumns 'authors' GO |
sp_MShelpindex
This stored procedure returns information about name, status, fill factor, index columns names, and file groups for a given table.
Syntax
sp_MShelpindex tablename [, indexname] [, flags] |
where
tablename - is the table name. tablename is nvarchar(517).
indexname - is the index name. indexname is nvarchar(258), with a default of NULL.
flags - flags is int, with a default of NULL.
To get the indexes description for the authors table in the pubs database, run:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_MShelpindex 'authors' GO |
sp_MShelptype
This stored procedure returns much useful information about system data types and user data types.
Syntax
sp_MShelptype [typename] [, flags] |
where
typename - is the type name. typename is nvarchar(517), with a default of NULL.
flags - flags is nvarchar(10), with a default of NULL.
To get information about all built-in and user defined data types in the pubs database, run:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_MShelptype GO |
sp_MSindexspace
This stored procedure returns the size in kb, of the indexes found in a particular table.
Syntax
sp_MSindexspace tablename [, index_name] |
where
tablename - is the table name. tablename is nvarchar(517).
index_name - is the index name. index_name is nvarchar(258), with a default of NULL.
To determine the space used by the indexes from the authors table in the pubs database, run:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_MSindexspace 'authors' GO |
sp_MSkilldb
This stored procedure sets a database to suspect mode and uses DBCC DBREPAIR to kill it. You should run this sp from the context of the master database. Use it very carefully.
Syntax
sp_MSkilldb dbname |
where
dbname - is the database name. dbname is nvarchar(258).
To kill the pubs database, run:
USE master GO EXEC sp_MSkilldb 'pubs' GO |
sp_MStablespace
This stored procedure returns the number of rows in a table and the space the table and index use.
Syntax
sp_MStablespace name [, id] |
where
name - is the table name. name is nvarchar(517).
id - id is int, with a default of NULL.
To determine the space used by the authors table in the pubs database, run:
USE pubs GO EXEC sp_MStablespace 'authors' GO |
Here is the result set from my machine:
Rows DataSpaceUsed IndexSpaceUsed ----------- ------------- -------------- 23 8 32 |
sp_tempdbspace
This stored procedure can be used to get the total size and the space used by the tempdb database. It is used without parameters.
Syntax
sp_tempdbspace |
This is the example:
EXEC sp_tempdbspace |
Here is the result set from my machine:
database_name database_size spaceused ------------- ----------------------- ----------------------------- tempdb 9.750000 .562500 |
sp_who2
This stored procedure returns information about current SQL Server 2000 users and processes similar to sp_who, but it provides more detailed information. sp_who2 returns CPUTime, DiskIO, LastBatch and ProgramName in addition to the data provided by sp_who.
Syntax
sp_who [loginame] |
where
loginame - the user's login name. If not specified, the procedure reports on all active users of SQL Server.
This example returns information for the 'sa' login:
EXEC sp_who2 'sa' |