Share via

  • Article

sys.databases (Transact-SQL)

Contains one row per database in the instance of Microsoft SQL Server.

If a database is not ONLINE or AUTO_CLOSE is set to ON and the database is closed, the values of some columns may be NULL. If a database is OFFLINE, the corresponding row is not visible to low-privileged users. To see the corresponding row if the database is OFFLINE, a user must have at least the ALTER ANY DATABASE server-level permission or the CREATE DATABASE permission in the master database.

Column name

Data type

Description

name

sysname

Name of database, unique within an instance of SQL Server.

database_id

int

ID of the database, unique within an instance of SQL Server.

source_database_id

int

Non-NULL = ID of the source database of this database snapshot.

NULL = Not a database snapshot.

owner_sid

varbinary(85)

SID (Security-Identifier) of the external owner of the database, as registered to the server.

create_date

datetime

Date the database was created or renamed. For tempdb, this value changes every time the server restarts.

compatibility_level

tinyint

Integer corresponding to the version of SQL Server for which behavior is compatible:

70

80

90

100

NULL = Database is not online, or AUTO_CLOSE is set to ON and the database is closed.

collation_name

sysname

Collation for the database. Acts as the default collation in the database.

NULL = Database is not online or AUTO_CLOSE is set to ON and the database is closed.

user_access

tinyint

User-access setting:

0 = MULTI_USER specified

1 = SINGLE_USER specified

2 = RESTRICTED_USER specified

user_access_desc

nvarchar(60)

Description of user-access setting:

MULTI_USER

SINGLE_USER

RESTRICTED_USER

is_read_only

bit

1 = Database is READ_ONLY.

0 = Database is READ_WRITE.

is_auto_close_on

bit

1 = AUTO_CLOSE is ON.

0 = AUTO_CLOSE is OFF.

is_auto_shrink_on

bit

1 = AUTO_SHRINK is ON.

0 = AUTO_SHRINK is OFF.

state

tinyint

Database state:

0 = ONLINE

1 = RESTORING

2 = RECOVERING

3 = RECOVERY_PENDING

4 = SUSPECT

5 = EMERGENCY

6 = OFFLINE

NoteNote
A database that has just come online is not necessarily ready to accept connections. To identify when a database can accept connections, query the collation_name column of sys.databases or the Collation property of DATABASEPROPERTYEX. The database can accept connections when the database collation returns a non-null value.

state_desc

nvarchar(60)

Description of the database state:

ONLINE

RESTORING

RECOVERING

RECOVERY_PENDING

SUSPECT

EMERGENCY

OFFLINE

NoteNote
A database that has just come online is not necessarily ready to accept connections. To identify when a database can accept connections, query the collation_name column of sys.databases or the Collation property of DATABASEPROPERTYEX. The database can accept connections when the database collation returns a non-null value.

For more information, see Database States.

is_in_standby

bit

Database is read-only for restore log.

is_cleanly_shutdown

bit

1 = Database shut down cleanly; no recovery required on startup.

0 = Database did not shut down cleanly; recovery is required on startup.

is_supplemental_logging_enabled

bit

1 = SUPPLEMENTAL_LOGGING is ON.

0 = SUPPLEMENTAL_LOGGING is OFF.

snapshot_isolation_state

tinyint

State of snapshot-isolation transactions being allowed, as set by the ALLOW_SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION option:

0 = Snapshot isolation state is OFF (default). Snapshot isolation is disallowed.

1 = Snapshot isolation state ON. Snapshot isolation is allowed.

2 = Snapshot isolation state is in transition to OFF state. All transactions have their modifications versioned. Cannot start new transactions using snapshot isolation. The database remains in the transition to OFF state until all transactions that were active when ALTER DATABASE was run can be completed.

3 = Snapshot isolation state is in transition to ON state. New transactions have their modifications versioned. Transactions cannot use snapshot isolation until the snapshot isolation state becomes 1 (ON). The database remains in the transition to ON state until all update transactions that were active when ALTER DATABASE was run can be completed.

snapshot_isolation_state_desc

nvarchar(60)

Description of state of snapshot-isolation transactions being allowed, as set by the ALLOW_SNAPSHOT_ISOLATION option:

  • OFF

  • ON

  • IN_TRANSITION_TO_ON

  • IN_TRANSITION_TO_OFF

is_read_committed_snapshot_on

bit

1 = READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT option is ON. Read operations under the read-committed isolation level are based on snapshot scans and do not acquire locks.

0 = READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT option is OFF (default). Read operations under the read-committed isolation level use share locks.

recovery_model

tinyint

Recovery model selected:

1 = FULL

2 = BULK_LOGGED

3 = SIMPLE

recovery_model_desc

nvarchar(60)

Description of recovery model selected:

FULL

BULK_LOGGED

SIMPLE

page_verify_option

tinyint

Setting of PAGE_VERIFY option:

0 = NONE

1 = TORN_PAGE_DETECTION

2 = CHECKSUM

page_verify_option_desc

nvarchar(60)

Description of PAGE_VERIFY option setting:

NONE.TORN_PAGE_DETECTION

CHECKSUM

is_auto_create_stats_on

bit

1 = AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS is ON.

0 = AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS is OFF.

is_auto_update_stats_on

bit

1 = AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS is ON.

0 = AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS is OFF.

is_auto_update_stats_async_on

bit

1 = AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS_ASYNC is ON.

0 = AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS_ASYNC is OFF.

is_ansi_null_default_on

bit

1 = ANSI_NULL_DEFAULT is ON.

0 = ANSI_NULL_DEFAULT is OFF.

is_ansi_nulls_on

bit

1 = ANSI_NULLS is ON.

0 = ANSI_NULLS is OFF.

is_ansi_padding_on

bit

1 = ANSI_PADDING is ON.

0 = ANSI_PADDING is OFF.

is_ansi_warnings_on

bit

1 = ANSI_WARNINGS is ON.

0 = ANSI_WARNINGS is OFF.

is_arithabort_on

bit

1 = ARITHABORT is ON.

0 = ARITHABORT is OFF.

is_concat_null_yields_null_on

bit

1 = CONCAT_NULL_YIELDS_NULL is ON.

0 = CONCAT_NULL_YIELDS_NULL is OFF.

is_numeric_roundabort_on

bit

1 = NUMERIC_ROUNDABORT is ON.

0 = NUMERIC_ROUNDABORT is OFF.

is_quoted_identifier_on

bit

1 = QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is ON.

0 = QUOTED_IDENTIFIER is OFF.

is_recursive_triggers_on

bit

1 = RECURSIVE_TRIGGERS is ON.

0 = RECURSIVE_TRIGGERS is OFF.

is_cursor_close_on_commit_on

bit

1 = CURSOR_CLOSE_ON_COMMIT is ON.

0 = CURSOR_CLOSE_ON_COMMIT is OFF.

is_local_cursor_default

bit

1 = CURSOR_DEFAULT is local.

0 = CURSOR_DEFAULT is global.

is_fulltext_enabled

bit

1 = Full-text is enabled for the database.

0 = Full-text is disabled for the database.

is_trustworthy_on

bit

1 = Database has been marked trustworthy.

0 = Database has not been marked trustworthy.

is_db_chaining_on

bit

1 = Cross-database ownership chaining is ON.

0 = Cross-database ownership chaining is OFF.

is_parameterization_forced

bit

1 = Parameterization is FORCED.

0 = Parameterization is SIMPLE.

is_master_key_encrypted_by_server

bit

1 = Database has an encrypted master key.

0 = Database does not have an encrypted master key.

is_published

bit

1 = Database is a publication database in a transactional or snapshot replication topology.

0 = Is not a publication database.

is_subscribed

bit

1 = Database is a subscription database in a replication topology.

0 = Is not a subscription database.

is_merge_published

bit

1 = Database is a publication database in a merge replication topology.

0 = Is not a publication database in a merge replication topology.

is_distributor

bit

1 = Database is the distribution database for a replication topology.

0 = Is not the distribution database for a replication topology.

is_sync_with_backup

bit

1 = Database is marked for replication synchronization with backup.

0 = Is not marked for replication synchronization with backup.

service_broker_guid

uniqueidentifier

Identifier of the service broker for this database. Used as the broker_instance of the target in the routing table.

is_broker_enabled

bit

1 = The broker in this database is currently sending and receiving messages.

0 = All sent messages will stay on the transmission queue and received messages will not be put on queues in this database.

By default, restored or attached databases have the broker disabled. The exception to this is database mirroring where the broker is enabled after failover.

log_reuse_wait

tinyint

Reuse of transaction log space is currently waiting on one of the following:

0 = Nothing

1 = Checkpoint

2 = Log backup

3 = Active backup or restore

4 = Active transaction

5 = Database mirroring

6 = Replication

7 = Database snapshot creation

8 = Log Scan

9 = Other (transient)

log_reuse_wait_desc

nvarchar(60)

Description of reuse of transaction log space is currently waiting on one of the following:

NOTHING

CHECKPOINT

LOG_BACKUP

NoteNote
If the reason is LOG_BACKUP, it may take two backups to actually free the space.

ACTIVE_BACKUP_OR_RESTORE

ACTIVE_TRANSACTION

DATABASE_MIRRORING

REPLICATION

DATABASE_SNAPSHOT_CREATION

LOG_SCAN

OTHER_TRANSIENT

For more information, see Factors That Can Delay Log Truncation.

is_date_correlation_on

bit

1 = DATE_CORRELATION_OPTIMIZATION is ON.

0 = DATE_CORRELATION_OPTIMIZATION is OFF.

is_cdc_enabled

bit

1 = Database is enabled for change data capture. For more information, see sys.sp_cdc_enable_db (Transact-SQL).

is_encrypted

bit

Indicates whether the database is encrypted (reflects the state last set by using the ALTER DATABASE SET ENCRYPTION clause). Can be one of the following values:

1 = Encrypted

0 = Not Encrypted

For more information about database encryption, see Understanding Transparent Data Encryption (TDE).

If the database is in the process of being decrypted, is_encrypted shows a value of 0. You can see the state of the encryption process by using the sys.dm_database_encryption_keys dynamic management view.

is_broker_priority_honored

bit

Indicates whether the database honors conversation priorities (reflects the state last set by using the ALTER DATABASE SET HONOR_BROKER_PRIORITY clause). Can be one of the following values:

1 = HONOR_BROKER_PRIORITY is ON

0 = HONOR_BROKER_PRIORITY is OFF

For more information, see Conversation Priorities.

Permissions

If the caller of sys.databases is not the owner of the database and the database is not master or tempdb, the minimum permissions required to see the corresponding row are ALTER ANY DATABASE or VIEW ANY DATABASE server-level permission, or CREATE DATABASE permission in the master database. The database to which the caller is connected can always be viewed in sys.databases.