There are many cases where a DBA needs to perform a task against all databases in a SQL Server instance. In order to avoid the process of just changing a part of the statement or switching to the target database and executing the T-SQL statement each time, there are some options that can help you.
One option is the undocumented stored procedure "sp_MSforeachdb" which executes the given T-SQL statements against all databases within a SQL Server instance.
Let's see an example. In this example we want to find the physical location of all database files in a SQL Server instance.
In this case we can execute the below command:
EXECUTE master.sys.sp_MSforeachdb 'USE [?]; SELECT DB_NAME() as DBName,[name],[filename] FROM sysfiles'
The above command will execute the encapsulated T-SQL statement against all databases within the SQL Server instance.
Here's the sample output:
A second option is to run the below command that queries the sys.databases catalog and dynamically builds the individual T-SQL statements for all databases:
SELECT 'SELECT '''+[Name]+''' AS DBName,[name],[filename] FROM '+[name]+'..sysfiles'
FROM sys.databases
You can then execute these statements one by one and thus have more control:
* Note: Massively executing T-SQL statements against all databases is something that should be avoided because it is easy to do a mistake and affect all databases. Always carefully test your T-SQL scripts on Test environments. Always take backups of your data.
What are your views on the subject? Have something to share? Feel free to leave your comment!
One option is the undocumented stored procedure "sp_MSforeachdb" which executes the given T-SQL statements against all databases within a SQL Server instance.
Let's see an example. In this example we want to find the physical location of all database files in a SQL Server instance.
In this case we can execute the below command:
EXECUTE master.sys.sp_MSforeachdb 'USE [?]; SELECT DB_NAME() as DBName,[name],[filename] FROM sysfiles'
The above command will execute the encapsulated T-SQL statement against all databases within the SQL Server instance.
Here's the sample output:
A second option is to run the below command that queries the sys.databases catalog and dynamically builds the individual T-SQL statements for all databases:
SELECT 'SELECT '''+[Name]+''' AS DBName,[name],[filename] FROM '+[name]+'..sysfiles'
FROM sys.databases
You can then execute these statements one by one and thus have more control:
* Note: Massively executing T-SQL statements against all databases is something that should be avoided because it is easy to do a mistake and affect all databases. Always carefully test your T-SQL scripts on Test environments. Always take backups of your data.
What are your views on the subject? Have something to share? Feel free to leave your comment!