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SQL Server 7.0 useful undocumented stored procedures

Alexander Chigrik
chigrik@mssqlcity.com

In this article, I want to tell you about some useful undocumented stored procedures shipped with SQL Server 7.0.

sp_columns_rowset

This stored procedure returns the complete columns description, including the length, type, name, and so on.

Syntax

sp_columns_rowset tbname [, table_schema ] [, column_name]

where 

tbname       - is the table name. tbname 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 database, systemcatalog, ind_id

where 

database      - is the database name. database is sysname.
systemcatalog - is the system table name. systemcatalog is sysname.
ind_id        - is the index id value. ind_id 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?

This is the example:

USE pubs
GO
EXEC sp_fixindex pubs, sysindexes, 2
GO

sp_MSexists_file

Used to determine whether a particular file exists in a particular folder or not.

Syntax

sp_MSexists_file full_path, filename

where 

full_path - is the full path to the file. full_path is nvarchar(512).
filename  - is the file name. filename is nvarchar(255).

To check if file textcopy.exe exists in the C:\MSSQL7\BINN\ directory (path by default), run:

DECLARE @retcode int
EXEC @retcode = sp_MSexists_file 'C:\MSSQL7\BINN\', 'textcopy.exe'
IF @retcode = 1
  PRINT 'File Exist'
ELSE
  PRINT 'File does not Exist'

sp_MSforeachdb

Sometimes, you need to perform the same actions for all databases. 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).
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             24

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        8.500000                .703125

sp_who2

This stored procedure returns information about current SQL Server 7.0 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'

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