SQL Server 2000 Useful undocumented stored procedures

SQL Server 2000 Useful undocumented stored procedures

Alexander Chigrik
chigrik@hotmail.com
Alexander Chigrik's Home

Introduction
In this article, I want to tell you about some useful undocumented
stored procedures shipped with SQL Server 2000.

sp_MSget_qualified_name

This 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 the 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 the object (it can be table,
view, stored procedure or trigger) for the given object id, object
name, and object owner. If object id, object name, and object owner
are not specified, then nothing will be dropped.

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 to drop 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 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 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 object, owned by the
specified user.

Syntax

sp_MScheck_uid_owns_anything uid


where

uid - is the User ID, unique in this database. 1 is the database owner.
      uid is smallint.

This is the example to get the list of the objects, owned by the
database owner in the pubs database.

USE pubs
GO
EXEC sp_MScheck_uid_owns_anything 1
GO


sp_columns_rowset

This stored procedure returns the complete columns 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 a corruption in a system table
by recreate 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:
"How can I fix a corruption in a system table?"
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 databases.
You can make cursor for this purpose, but you can also use
sp_MSforeachdb stored procedure in this case.

You can use this stored procedure to check all databases with
DBCC CHECKDB statement:

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 make cursor for this purpose, but you can also use
sp_MSforeachtable stored procedure in this case.

You can use this stored procedure to rebuild all indexes in your
database. Try to schedule it to execute when your server is not
very hard work.

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 about used file group for the 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 many useful information about system
data types and about 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, which the indexes in
the particular table use.

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 database to suspect and let 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 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. You should execute sp_tempdbspace 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 as sp_who, but provides more detailed information.
sp_who2 returns CPUTime, DiskIO, LastBatch and ProgramName in addition
to 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'

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