How to Update Statistics in SQL Server
A query that ran in milliseconds last month now scans a million rows and spills to tempdb. Nothing changed in the code — but the data grew, and the statistics the optimizer relies on went stale, so its row estimates drifted far from reality and it chose a bad plan. Refreshing statistics is the fix, and knowing how and …
Read Moresp_pkeys and Primary Key Metadata in SQL Server
Jun 16, 2026 / · 6 min read · sql server sp_pkeys sys.key_constraints sys.index_columns sys.columns sys.types sys.tables sys.objects sys.schemas information_schema primary keys catalog views metadata database structure scripts ·Which columns make up a table's primary key, and in what order are they declared? For a single table, the system stored procedure sp_pkeys answers in one line; for a database-wide inventory, the catalog views behind it give you full control. This post covers both, from the quick lookup to the complete metadata query. …
Read Moresysindexes vs sys.indexes: Legacy and Modern Catalog Views
Plenty of SQL Server scripts still in circulation read rowcnt and dpages straight out of sysindexes — a habit inherited from SQL Server 2000, where that table was the canonical place to find row counts and page totals. The object survives only as the sys.sysindexes compatibility view, is flagged for removal, and …
Read MoreSQL Server Catalog Views: sys.tables, sys.indexes, sys.objects
Jun 14, 2026 / · 6 min read · sql server catalog views system tables metadata sys.tables sys.indexes sys.objects sys.schemas sys.partitions sys.columns sys.index_columns sys.foreign_keys database structure scripts ·The sys catalog views are the supported, forward-compatible way to read SQL Server metadata, and three of them — sys.objects, sys.tables, and sys.indexes — answer most day-to-day questions about what lives in a database. This script joins them into one inventory of every user table, its schema, its row count, and each …
Read Moresp_pkeys: SQL Server Primary Key Discovery Script
Aug 9, 2025 / · 3 min read · sql server primary keys database administration scripts sysobjects sp_pkeys dynamic sql sysobjects sys.tables sys.key_constraints INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS ·SQL Server Primary Key Discovery Script Using sp_pkeys and sysobjects Purpose This SQL Server script generates dynamic SQL statements that can be executed to discover primary keys across all user tables in a database. It's a powerful administrative tool that helps database administrators quickly identify primary key …
Read MoreGenerate DBCC SHOWCONTIG Commands for All SQL Server Tables
Before sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats existed, checking fragmentation across a database meant looking up every user table's object ID and running DBCC SHOWCONTIG against each one individually. This script closes that gap for the sysobjects-based era of SQL Server administration: it queries sysobjects for every table of …
Read MoreSQL Server Scripts and Database Commands 6.5, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0, 10.50, 11.0, 12.0, 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, 16.0, 17.0 The corresponding version numbers and years: SQL Server 6.5 (1996), SQL Server 7.0 (1998), SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012, SQL Server 2014, SQL …
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