I decided the try to restore the database with T-SQL, with T-SQL the restore completed successfully! Another advantage of using T-SQL is that T-SQL gave more logging. This logging shows me that the BAK file (delivered from a third party) is not a SQL Server 2005 backup but presumably a SQL Server 2000 database backup …

DECLARE
  @BackupFile varchar(8000),
  @sql varchar(8000)
  SET @BackupFile = 'E:\DB2000.BAK'
  SET @sql = 'RESTORE DATABASE ADB01 FROM DISK = ''' + @backupfile + ''' WITH FILE = 1,  
    MOVE N''DB2000_dat'' TO N''E:\mssql\data\ADB01\ADB01_01.mdf'',  
    MOVE N''DB2000_log'' TO N''F:\mssql\tlog\ADB01\ADB01_01.ldf'',  
    NOUNLOAD,  REPLACE,  STATS = 10, RECOVERY'
  exec (@sql)
go
 
10 percent processed.
20 percent processed.
30 percent processed.
40 percent processed.
50 percent processed.
60 percent processed.
70 percent processed.
80 percent processed.
90 percent processed.
100 percent processed.
Processed 2792 pages for database 'ADB01', file 'DB2000_dat' on file 1.
Processed 1 pages for database 'ADB01', file 'DB2000_log' on file 1.
Converting database 'ADB01' from version 539 to the current version 611.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 539 to version 551.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 551 to version 552.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 552 to version 553.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 553 to version 554.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 554 to version 589.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 589 to version 590.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 590 to version 593.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 593 to version 597.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 597 to version 604.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 604 to version 605.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 605 to version 606.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 606 to version 607.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 607 to version 608.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 608 to version 609.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 609 to version 610.
Database 'ADB01' running the upgrade step from version 610 to version 611.
RESTORE DATABASE successfully processed 2793 pages in 1.513 seconds (15.118 MB/sec).
 

IF THEN ELSE

The IF THEN ELSE syntax in TSQL is kinda weird if you ask me … I forget them ‘all the time’, created examples below for my reference.

IF THEN

if 1 = 1
begin 
  print 'true'
end
 
go
 

IF THEN – short notation

if 1 = 1
  print 'true'
 
go
 

IF THEN ELSE

if 1 = 1
begin
  print 'true'
end
 
else  

begin
  print 'false'
end
 
go
 

IF THEN ELSE – short notation

if 1 = 1
  print 'true'
else  
  print 'false'

go
 

Multiple IF THEN ELSE blocks

if 1 = 1
begin
  print '1 = 1'
end
else  
if 1 = 2
  begin
    print '1 = 2'
  end
else
if 1 = 3
begin
  print '1 = 3'
end
 
go
 

CASE

TSQL has the CASE control structure …

declare @i int, @r int
 
set @i = 1
 
set @r = 
  case @i
    when 1 then 1
    when 2 then 2
      else 0
  end
 
print @r
 
go
 

WHILE

Eternal loop

while 1 = 1 
  print 'true'
 
go
 

Simple WHILE loop

declare @i int
set @i = 0
 
while @i < 10
begin
  print @i
  set @i = @i + 1
end
 
go
 

Simple cursor loop

Example below is the most straight forward example of walking through a CURSOR with a WHILE loop in tsql. The cursor is declared, opened and and a FETCH NEXT is done while @@fetch_status equals 0.

The behaviour of a FETCH [ NEXT ] call is that it returns the value(s) for the column(s) specified in the DECLARE CURSOR as a single-row result set.

Basic cursor example with FETCH returning row as single-row result set

1> declare c1 cursor
2> for
3> select left( name, 32)            as name,
4>        cast( dbid as varchar(10)) as dbid
5>   from master.dbo.sysdatabases
6>  where dbid < 5
7>
8> open c1
9> fetch next from c1
10>
11> -- while @@fetch_status != -1 and @@fetch_status != -2
12> while @@fetch_status = 0
13>    fetch next from c1
14>
15> close c1
16> deallocate c1
17>
18> go
 name                             dbid
 -------------------------------- ----------
 master                           1
 
 name                             dbid
 -------------------------------- ----------
 tempdb                           2
 
 name                             dbid
 -------------------------------- ----------
 model                            3
 
 name                             dbid
 -------------------------------- ----------
 msdb                             4
 
 name                             dbid
 -------------------------------- ----------
 
1>

@@fetch_status

@@fetch_status is a built in variable returning the exit code of the latest fetch call.

FETCH INTO

The ‘FETCH INTO’ option is used to return values from a cursor (instead of getting it returned as a single-row result set) into pre-defined variables.

Example below displays how to perform a FETCH INTO with a single column.

1> declare @s_name    varchar(32)
2> declare c1 cursor
3> for
4> select name
5>   from master.dbo.sysdatabases
6>  where dbid < 5
7>
8> open c1
9> fetch next from c1 into @s_name
10>
11> while @@fetch_status = 0
12> begin
13>   print 'name = ' + @s_name
14>   fetch next from c1 into @s_name
15> end
16>
17> close c1
18> deallocate c1
19>
20> go
name = master
name = tempdb
name = model
name = msdb
1>

Example below displays how to perform a FETCH INTO with multiple columns.

1> declare @s_name    varchar(32),
2>         @i_dbid    smallint
3> declare c1 cursor
4> for
5> select name,
6>        dbid
7>   from master.dbo.sysdatabases
8>  where dbid < 5
9>
10> open c1
11> fetch next from c1 into @s_name, @i_dbid
12>
13> while @@fetch_status = 0
14> begin
15>   print 'DB = ' + cast( @i_dbid as varchar(8)) + ':' + @s_name
16>   fetch next from c1 into @s_name, @i_dbid
17> end
18>
19> close c1
20> deallocate c1
21>
22> go
DB = 1:master
DB = 2:tempdb
DB = 3:model
DB = 4:msdb
1>

Scrollable cursors

All examples above are so-called ‘forward only cursors’ (the default cursor type). When you want to be able to scroll through your cursor the cursor most be declared through the SCROLL CURSOR declaration.

Whenever a cursor is declared as a SCROLL CURSOR the following FETCH options become available:

Fetch Options

• PRIOR
• FIRST
• LAST
• ABSOLUTE { n | @nvar }
• RELATIVE { n | @nvar }

All examples below are done with ‘demo’ table listed below.

demo table

1> select * from demo order by k
2> go
 k
 -----------
           0
           1
           2
           3
           4
           5
           6
           7
           8
           9
 
(10 rows affected)
1>

FETCH NEXT and FETCH PRIOR

1> declare @i as int
2> declare c1 scroll cursor
3> for
4> select k
5>   from demo
6> order by k
7>
8>
9>
10> open c1
11>
12>
13> print 'FETCH NEXT ' + char(10)
14> print '=================================='
15>
16> fetch next from c1 into @i
17> while @@fetch_status = 0
18> begin
19>   print cast(@i as char(1)) + ' @@fetch_status ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
20>   fetch next from c1 into @i
21> end
22>
23> fetch next from c1 into @i
24> print cast(@i as char(1)) + ' @@fetch_status ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
25>
26>
27> print char(10) + 'FETCH PRIOR ' + char(10)
28> print '=================================='
29>
30> fetch prior from c1 into @i
31> while @@fetch_status = 0
32> begin
33>   print cast(@i as char(1)) + ' @@fetch_status ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
34>   fetch prior from c1 into @i
35> end
36>
37> fetch prior from c1 into @i
38> print cast(@i as char(1)) + ' @@fetch_status ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
39>
40>
41> close c1
42> deallocate c1
43>
44>
45>
46> go
FETCH NEXT
==================================
0 @@fetch_status 0
1 @@fetch_status 0
2 @@fetch_status 0
3 @@fetch_status 0
4 @@fetch_status 0
5 @@fetch_status 0
6 @@fetch_status 0
7 @@fetch_status 0
8 @@fetch_status 0
9 @@fetch_status 0
9 @@fetch_status -1
 
FETCH PRIOR
==================================
9 @@fetch_status 0
8 @@fetch_status 0
7 @@fetch_status 0
6 @@fetch_status 0
5 @@fetch_status 0
4 @@fetch_status 0
3 @@fetch_status 0
2 @@fetch_status 0
1 @@fetch_status 0
0 @@fetch_status 0
0 @@fetch_status -1
1>

FETCH LAST / FETCH PRIOR

1> declare @i as int
2> declare c1 scroll cursor
3> for
4> select k
5>   from demo
6> order by k
7>
8>
9>
10> open c1
11>
12>
13> print char(10) + 'FIRST LAST PRIOR ' + char(10)
14> print '=================================='
15> fetch last from c1 into @i
16> print 'FETCH LAST  = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
17>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
18> fetch prior from c1 into @i
19> print 'FETCH PRIOR = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
20>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
21> fetch first from c1 into @i
22> print 'FETCH FIRST = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
23>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
24> fetch prior from c1 into @i
25> print 'FETCH PRIOR = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
26>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
27> fetch next from c1 into @i
28> print 'FETCH NEXT  = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
29>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
30> fetch next from c1 into @i
31> print 'FETCH NEXT  = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
32>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
33>
34>
35> close c1
36> deallocate c1
37>
38>
39>
40> go
 
FIRST LAST PRIOR
==================================
FETCH LAST  = 9 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH PRIOR = 8 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH FIRST = 0 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH PRIOR = 0 @@fetch_status = -1
FETCH NEXT  = 0 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH NEXT  = 1 @@fetch_status = 0
1>

FETCH ABSOLUTE

1> declare @i as int
2> declare c1 scroll cursor
3> for
4> select k
5>   from demo
6> order by k
7>
8> open c1
9>
10> print char(10) + 'FETCH ABSOLUTE ' + char(10)
11> print '======================================'
12> fetch absolute 2 from c1 into @i
13> print 'FETCH ABSOLUTE 2 = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
14>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
15> fetch absolute 8 from c1 into @i
16> print 'FETCH ABSOLUTE 8 = ' + cast(@i as char(1)) +
17>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
18>
19> close c1
20> deallocate c1
21>
22> go
 
FETCH ABSOLUTE
======================================
FETCH ABSOLUTE 2 = 1 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH ABSOLUTE 8 = 7 @@fetch_status = 0
1>

FETCH RELATIVE

1> declare @i as int
2> declare c1 scroll cursor
3> for
4> select k
5>   from demo
6> order by k
7>
8>
9>
10> open c1
11>
12>
13> print char(10) + 'FETCH RELATIVE' + char(10)
14> print '======================================='
15> fetch relative 1 from c1 into @i
16> print 'FETCH RELATIVE 1   = ' + cast( @i as varchar(1)) +
17>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
18>
19> fetch relative -1 from c1 into @i
20> print 'FETCH RELATIVE -1  = ' + cast( @i as varchar(1)) +
21>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
22>
23> fetch relative -2 from c1 into @i
24> print 'FETCH RELATIVE -2  = ' + cast( @i as varchar(1)) +
25>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
26>
27> fetch relative 3 from c1 into @i
28> print 'FETCH RELATIVE 3   = ' + cast( @i as varchar(1)) +
29>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
30>
31> fetch relative 100 from c1 into @i
32> print 'FETCH RELATIVE 100 = ' + cast( @i as varchar(1)) +
33>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
34>
35> fetch relative -1 from c1 into @i
36> print 'FETCH RELATIVE -1  = ' + cast( @i as varchar(1)) +
37>         ' @@fetch_status = ' + cast(@@fetch_status as char)
38>
39>
40> close c1
41> deallocate c1
42>
43>
44>
45> go
 
FETCH RELATIVE
=======================================
FETCH RELATIVE 1   = 0 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH RELATIVE -1  = 0 @@fetch_status = -1
FETCH RELATIVE -2  = 0 @@fetch_status = -1
FETCH RELATIVE 3   = 2 @@fetch_status = 0
FETCH RELATIVE 100 = 2 @@fetch_status = -1
FETCH RELATIVE -1  = 9 @@fetch_status = 0
1>

Scenario

The example below displays the number of objects per database. The following steps are involved.

• open a cursor for the select * from master.dbo.sysdatabases statement (cursor is a while loop),
• inside the cursor a dynamic sql statement is defined ,
• at last the stored procedure sp_executesql is used to retrieve the output of this defined sql statement into tsql variables .

sp_execute example to return values into variables

1> declare @s_dtb  sysname
2> declare @s_sql  nvarchar(2000)
3> declare @i_obj  int
4> declare c1     cursor
5> for
6> select name
7>   from master.dbo.sysdatabases
8>
9>
10> open c1
11> fetch c1 into @s_dtb
12>
13> while @@fetch_status >= 0
14> begin
15>
16>   -- construct sql statement
17>   set @s_sql = 'select @count = count(*)
18>                  from ' + QuoteName(@s_dtb) + '.dbo.sysobjects'
19>
20>   -- execute dynamic sql and map output variable @count to variable @i_obj
21>   exec sp_executesql
22>     @s_sql,
23>     N'@count int output',
24>     @count = @i_obj output
25>
26>   print @s_dtb + ' db has ' + cast( @i_obj as varchar) + ' objects'
27>
28>   fetch c1 into @s_dtb
29>
30> end
31>
32> close c1
33> deallocate c1
34>
35>
36> go
master db has 1324 objects
model db has 54 objects
msdb db has 454 objects
Northwind db has 146 objects
tempdb db has 54 objects
1>

Extremely handy I would say. – Whenever you want to perform an operation (execute tsql) on all your databases.

Whoami

In MSSQL (2000) there’s not an easy way to see in which database you are. Script below creates a view ‘whoami’ that gives you the information;

create view dbo.whoami
as
select @@spid as '@@spid',
       cast( user as varchar(12)) as 'user',
       cast( p.dbid as varchar(6)) + ':' + cast( d.name as varchar(14)) as 'database',
       cast( p.loginame as varchar(16)) loginame,
       cast( p.hostname as varchar(16)) as 'hostname',
       cast( p.nt_username as varchar(16)) nt_username
   from master.dbo.sysprocesses p left join master.dbo.sysdatabases d
      on d.dbid = p.dbid
   where spid = @@spid
 
go
 
grant select on dbo.whoami to public
go
 

1> select * from whoami
2> go
 @@spid user         database              loginame         hostname         nt_username
 ------ ------------ --------------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
     51 dbo          1:master              NYC01\\remivisser NYC01            remivisser
 
(1 row affected)
1>
 

Current date

Functions getdate and getutcdate display the current date. Both functions accept zero arguments.

1> print getdate()
2> print getutcdate()
3> go
Sep 18 2006  8:25PM
Sep 18 2006  6:25PM

Formatting

To format the display of your date you need to convert it to a varchar (like the to_char function in oracle).

So to display 18 september as 25-09-2006 I must convert it the Italian?? way, as shown below.

1> print convert( varchar(32), getdate(), 105)
2> go
18-09-2006
1> print convert( varchar(32), getdate(), 5)
2> go
18-09-06

Advanced(?) formatting

My requirement is simple: get the date displayed as ‘yyyymmdd_hhmiss’. And yes I want leading zeros for the first nine monts/minutes. So ’09′ for ‘September’ and not ’9′. How hard can that be … Well, I am missing something bigtime OR this basic functionality is simply missing from sqlserver T-SQL (version 2000).

I wrote the T-SQL code below to get me the datetime in the format ‘yyyymmdd_hhmiss’;

1> set nocount on
2>
3> declare @yy varchar(4)
4> ,       @mm varchar(2)
5> ,       @dd varchar(2)
6> ,       @hh varchar(2)
7> ,       @mi varchar(2)
8> ,       @ss varchar(2)
9> ,       @ts varchar(15)
10>
11> set @yy = datepart( yy, getdate())
12> set @mm = datepart( mm, getdate())
13> set @dd = datepart( dd, getdate())
14> set @hh = datepart( hh, getdate())
15> set @mi = datepart( mi, getdate())
16> set @ss = datepart( ss, getdate())
17>
18>
19> if ( cast( @mm as int) < 10) set @mm = '0' + @mm
20> if ( cast( @dd as int) < 10) set @dd = '0' + @dd
21> if ( cast( @hh as int) < 10) set @hh = '0' + @hh
22> if ( cast( @mi as int) < 10) set @mi = '0' + @mi
23> if ( cast( @ss as int) < 10) set @ss = '0' + @ss
24>
25>
26> set @ts = @yy + @mm + @dd + '_' + @hh + @mi + @ss
27> print @ts
28>
29> go
20060918_183339

I can not believe this is not standard functionality … Please correct me if I am wrong (As I’m an Oracle DBA very new to MSSQL …)