sp_addmessage (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Stores a new user-defined error message in an instance of the SQL Server Database Engine. Messages stored by using sp_addmessage can be viewed by using the sys.messages catalog view.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
sp_addmessage
[ [ @msgnum = ] msgnum ]
[ , [ @severity = ] severity ]
[ , [ @msgtext = ] N'msgtext' ]
[ , [ @lang = ] N'lang' ]
[ , [ @with_log = ] { 'true' | 'false' } ]
[ , [ @replace = ] 'replace' ]
[ ; ]
Arguments
[ @msgnum = ] msgnum
The ID of the message. @msgnum is int, with a default of NULL. @msgnum for user-defined error messages can be an integer between 50,001 and 2,147,483,647. The combination of @msgnum and @lang must be unique; an error is returned if the ID already exists for the specified language.
[ @severity = ] severity
The severity level of the error. @severity is smallint, with a default of NULL. Valid levels are from 1 through 25. For more information about severities, see Database Engine error severities.
[ @msgtext = ] N'msgtext'
The text of the error message. @msgtext is nvarchar(255), with a default of NULL.
[ @lang = ] N'lang'
The language for this message. @lang is sysname, with a default of NULL. Because multiple languages can be installed on the same server, @lang specifies the language in which each message is written. When @lang is omitted, the language is the default language for the session.
[ @with_log = ] 'with_log'
Specifies whether the message is to be written to the Windows application log when it occurs. @with_log is varchar(5), with a default of NULL.
- If
true, the error is always written to the Windows application log. - If
false, the error isn't always written to the Windows application log but can be written, depending on how the error was raised.
Only members of the sysadmin server role can use this option.
If a message is written to the Windows application log, it's also written to the Database Engine error log file.
[ @replace = ] 'replace'
If specified as the string @replace, an existing error message is overwritten with new message text and severity level. @replace is varchar(7), with a default of NULL. This option must be specified if @msgnum already exists. If you replace a U.S. English message, the severity level is replaced for all messages in all other languages that have the same @msgnum.
Return code values
0 (success) or 1 (failure).
Result set
None.
Remarks
For non-English versions of SQL Server, the U.S. English version of a message must already exist before the message can be added using another language. The severity of the two versions of the message must match.
When localizing messages that contain parameters, use parameter numbers that correspond to the parameters in the original message. Insert an exclamation point (!) after each parameter number.
| Original message | Localized message |
|---|---|
Original message param 1: %s,<br />param 2: %d |
Localized message param 1: %1!,<br />param 2: %2! |
Because of language syntax differences, the parameter numbers in the localized message might not occur in the same sequence as in the original message.
Permissions
Requires membership in the sysadmin or serveradmin fixed server roles.
Examples
A. Define a custom message
The following example adds a custom message to sys.messages.
USE master;
GO
EXEC sp_addmessage 50001, 16,
N'Percentage expects a value between 20 and 100.
Re-run with a more appropriate value.';
GO
B. Add a message in two languages
The following example first adds a message in U.S. English and then adds the same message in French.
USE master;
GO
EXEC sp_addmessage @msgnum = 60000, @severity = 16,
@msgtext = N'The item named %s already exists in %s.',
@lang = 'us_english';
EXEC sp_addmessage @msgnum = 60000, @severity = 16,
@msgtext = N'L''élément nommé %1! existe déjà dans %2!',
@lang = 'French';
GO
C. Change the order of parameters
The following example first adds a message in U.S. English, and then adds a localized message in which the parameter order is changed. In the localized version of the message, the parameter order has changed. The string parameters are in first and second place in the message, and the numeric parameter is third place.
USE master;
GO
EXEC sp_addmessage
@msgnum = 60000,
@severity = 16,
@msgtext =
N'This is a test message with one numeric parameter (%d), one string parameter (%s), and another string parameter (%s).',
@lang = 'us_english';
EXEC sp_addmessage
@msgnum = 60000,
@severity = 16,
@msgtext =
N'Dies ist eine Testmeldung mit einem Zeichenfolgenparameter (%3!), einem weiteren Zeichenfolgenparameter (%2!), und einem numerischen Parameter (%1!).',
@lang = 'German';
GO
-- Changing the session language to use the U.S. English
-- version of the error message.
SET LANGUAGE us_english;
GO
RAISERROR(60000, 1, 1, 15, 'param1', 'param2')
GO
-- Changing the session language to use the German
-- version of the error message.
SET LANGUAGE German;
GO
RAISERROR(60000, 1, 1, 15, 'param1', 'param2');
GO