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More Metadata Functions

More Metadata Functions

n my last 10-Minute Solution, “Use Property Functions to Query Metadata“, I looked at OBJECTPROPERTY, one of the property functions in SQL Server. Property functions are new to SQL Server 7.0 and are used to query various details or properties about the objects in your database. In this 10-Minute Solution, I take a look at the COLUMNPROPERTY and DATABASEPROPERTY functions.

The COLUMNPROPERTY Function
As you can probably guess, the COLUMNPROPERTY function returns information about table columns, but it also returns details about stored procedure parameters. The COLUMNPROPERTY function takes three parameters: the ObjectID of the table or stored procedure, the name of the column or parameter, and the property name that is the attribute you want to query. For example, this code queries a column in the Categories table as to whether or not it allows null values:

USE NorthwindSELECT (CASE COLUMNPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID('Categories'), 'CategoryID',     'AllowsNull') WHEN 1 THEN 'True' ELSE 'False' END)     AS 'AllowsNulls'

Just like the OBJECTPROPERTY function, COLUMNPROPERTY doesn’t work across databases, so you must specify the correct database first. COLUMNPROPERTY returns True or False, except when checking for Precision or Scale—in which case it returns the precision or scale value for the column or parameter. Table 1 lists all the property attributes that can be returned with COLUMNPROPERTY, as well as which ones are specific to SQL Server 2000.

Table 1. Property Name Values Used with the COLUMNPROPERTY Function

Property

SQL Server 2000 Only

Description

AllowsNull

 

Returns whether or not the column’s nullability is set to allow null values

IsComputed

 

Returns whether or not the column is computed with the values of one or more columns

IsCursorType

 

Returns whether or not the parameter is of data type cursor

IsDeterministic

x

Returns whether or not a computed column is deterministic.

IsFulltextIndexed

 

Returns whether or not the column is used in full-text indexing

IsIdentity

 

Returns whether or not the column has its Identity attribute set for automatic numbering

IsIdNotForRepl

 

Returns whether or not an identity column’s values should be re-seeded during replication or replicated with the explicit values of the column

IsIndexable

x

Returns whether or not the column can be indexed

IsOutParam

 

Returns whether or not a stored procedure parameter is an output parameter

IsPrecise

x

The column is precise (deterministic columns only)

IsRowGuidCol

 

Returns whether or not a column is of data type uniqueidentifier and has its ROWGUID property set

Precision

 

Returns the precision for a column or parameter

Scale

 

Returns the scale for a column or parameter

UsesAnsiTrim

 

Returns whether or not the SQL-92 ANSI padding setting was on when the table was created

The DATABASEPROPERTY Function
Appropriately, the DATABASEPROPERTY function returns attributes for a database and takes two parameters: the database name and the property name. Use this syntax to query whether or not the specified database uses the SQL-92 standard for null values:

USE NorthwindSELECT DATABASEPROPERTY('Northwind', 'IsAnsiNullDefault')

Note that in SQL Server 2000, the DATABASEPROPERTY function is replaced by the DATABASEPROPERTYEX function. The old function name can still be used—but is provided for backward compatibility only—so you’ll want to update any references to the new function name. SQL Server 2000 provides quite a few new property name values and, in some cases, condenses multiple property names into a single one. For example, the IsInStandBy, IsInLoad, and IsInRecovery property names are no longer used with the DATABASEPROPERTYEX function; instead there’s a single Status property name and the function’s return value is the database status (see Table 2).

Table 2. Property Name Values Used with the DATABASEPROPERTY(EX) Function

Property

SQL Server 7.0 Only

SQL Server 2000 Only

Description

Collation

 

x

Returns the name of the default collation for the database

IsAnsiNullDefault

  

Returns whether or not the database uses the SQL-92 standard for allowing nulls

IsAnsiNullsEnabled

  

Returns whether or not comparisons that include a null value evaluate to unknown

IsAnsiPaddingEnabled

 

x

Returns whether or not string values are padded to the same length when they are compared or inserted

IsAnsiWarningsEnabled

  

Returns whether or not error and warning messages are issued when an error is encountered

IsArithmeticAbortEnabled

 

x

Returns whether or not queries are terminated if an overflow or divide-by-zero error occurs

IsAutoClose

  

Returns whether or not the database shuts down automatically after the last user exits

IsAutoCreateStatistics

 

x

Returns whether or not the statistics are updated automatically when they become out of date due to table changes

IsAutoShrink

  

Returns whether or not the database files are shrunk automatically

IsAutoUpdateStatistics

  

Returns whether or not the automatic updating of statistics is enabled on a database

IsBulkCopy

x

 

Returns whether or not the database allows non-logged operations

IsCloseCursorsOnCommitEnabled

  

Returns whether or not open cursors are closed when a transaction is committed

IsDboOnly

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is in DBO-only access mode

IsDetached

x

 

Returns whether or not the database was detached

IsEmergencyMode

x

 

Returns whether or not emergency mode is enabled so a suspect database can be used

IsFulltextEnabled

  

Returns whether or not the database is enabled for full-text indexing

IsInLoad

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is currently loading.

IsInRecovery

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is currently recovering

IsInStandBy

  

Returns whether or not the database is online as read-only

IsLocalCursorsDefault

  

Returns whether or not declared cursors are local

IsMergePublished

 

x

Returns whether or not tables in the database can be published for replication

IsNotRecovered

x

 

Returns whether or not the database failed to recover

IsNullConcat

  

Returns whether or not concatenation of a value with a null returns a null

IsNumericRoundAbortEnabled

 

x

Returns whether or not an error is generated when a loss of precision occurs

IsOffline

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is offline.

IsQuotedIdentifiersEnabled

  

Returns whether or not double quotation marks can be used on identifiers

IsReadOnly

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is read-only

IsRecursiveTriggersEnabled

 

x

Returns whether or not the recursive firing of triggers is enabled

IsShutDown

x

 

Returns whether or not the database encountered a problem at startup

IsSingleUser

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is in single-user mode

IsSubscribed

 

x

Returns whether or not the database can be subscribed for replication

IsSuspect

x

 

Returns whether or not the database is suspect

IsTornPageDetectionEnabled

 

x

Returns whether or not the database detects incomplete I/O operations

IsTruncLog

x

 

Returns whether or not the database truncates its log on checkpoints

Recovery

 

x

Returns the recovery mode for the database: FULL, BULK_LOGGED, or SIMPLE

SQLSortOrder

 

x

Returns zero for Windows collation or the ID value of the sort order

Status

 

x

Returns the database status of ONLINE, OFFLINE, RESTORING, RECOVERING, or SUSPECT

Updateability

 

x

Returns READ_ONLY for read-only databases or READ_WRITE for modifiable databases

UserAccess

 

x

Returns which users can access the database: SINGLE_USER for only one user at a time; RESTRICTED_USER for members of db_owner, dbcreator, or sysadmin roles; or MULTI_USER for all users

Version

  

Returns the internal SQL Server version number if the database is open or null if it’s closed

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