sp depends in SQL Server

sql server sp depends stored procedure

In this video we will discuss sp_depends system stored procedure.

There are several ways to find object dependencies in SQL Server
1. View Dependencies feature in SQL Server Management Studio – Part 131
2. SQL Server dynamic management functions – Part 132
sys.dm_sql_referencing_entities
sys.dm_sql_referenced_entities
3. sp_depends system stored procedure – This video

sp_depends
A system stored procedure that returns object dependencies
For example,
If you specify a table name as the argument, then the views and procedures that depend on the specified table are displayed
If you specify a view or a procedure name as the argument, then the tables and views on which the specified view or procedure depends are displayed.

Syntax : Execute sp_depends ‘ObjectName’

The following SQL Script creates a table and a stored procedure
Create table Employees
(
Id int primary key identity,
Name nvarchar(50),
Gender nvarchar(10)
)
Go

Create procedure sp_GetEmployees
as
Begin
Select * from Employees
End
Go

Returns the stored procedure that depends on table Employees
sp_depends ‘Employees’

Returns the name of the table and the respective column names on which the stored procedure sp_GetEmployees depends
sp_depends ‘sp_GetEmployees’

Sometime sp_depends does not report dependencies correctly. For example, at the moment we have Employees table and a stored procedure sp_GetEmployees.

Now drop the table Employees
Drop table Employees

and then recreate the table again
Create table Employees
(
Id int primary key identity,
Name nvarchar(50),
Gender nvarchar(10)
)
Go

Now execute the following, to find the objects that depend on Employees table
sp_depends ‘Employees’

We know that stored procedure sp_GetEmployees still depends on Employees table. But sp_depends does not report this dependency, as the Employees table is dropped and recreated.
Object does not reference any object, and no objects reference it.

sp_depends is on the deprecation path. This might be removed from the future versions of SQL server.

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http://csharp-video-tutorials.blogspot.com/2015/10/spdepends-in-sql-server.html

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http://csharp-video-tutorials.blogspot.com/2015/10/spdepends-in-sql-server_25.html

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