Robin Tucker (id*************************@reallyidont.com) writes:
Ok, yes I can see this, but I don't like to mess around with sys tables
for obvious reasons (they change). I guess I don't have much choice
anyway.
There exists a misconception about the system tables. You often see
people say: "don't use the system tables, because Microsoft may change
them".
But things are not really that. The system tables are part of a published
interface, and while it has happened that Microsoft has changed docuemented
functionality without warning, this can happen with any piece in SQL Server,
not just the system tables. However, most often when Microsoft decides
to drop something, they first deprecate it one version of SQL Server,
and in some later version they remove the functionality completely. (Those
changed without warning usually pertained to smaller details.)
What is important to understand about the system tables is that:
o Not all system tables are documented.
o Many columns in documented system tables are described as "reserved"
or "For internal use only".
If you rely on values in undocumented columns or tables, you are walking
a unsafe path.
--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP,
so****@algonet.se
Books Online for SQL Server SP3 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinf...2000/books.asp