SET CONTEXT_INFO (Transact-SQL)
Applies to:
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Associates up to 128 bytes of binary information with the current session or connection.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
SET CONTEXT_INFO { binary_str | @binary_var }
Note
To view Transact-SQL syntax for SQL Server 2014 (12.x) and earlier versions, see Previous versions documentation.
Arguments
binary_str
Is a binary constant, or a constant that is implicitly convertible to binary, to associate with the current session or connection.
@binary_var
Is a varbinary or binary variable holding a context value to associate with the current session or connection.
Remarks
Like all SET Statements, SET CONTEXT_INFO affects the current session. The preferred way to retrieve the context information for the current session is to use the CONTEXT_INFO function. Session context information is also stored in the context_info
columns in the following system views:
sys.dm_exec_requests
sys.dm_exec_sessions
sys.sysprocesses
(deprecated)
SET CONTEXT_INFO cannot be specified in a user-defined function. You cannot supply a NULL value to SET CONTEXT_INFO because the views holding the values do not allow for NULL values.
SET CONTEXT_INFO does not accept expressions other than constants or variable names. To set the context information to the result of a function call, you must first include the result of the function call in a binary or varbinary variable.
When you issue SET CONTEXT_INFO in a stored procedure or trigger, unlike in other SET statements, the new value set for the context information persists after the stored procedure or trigger is completed.
Examples
A. Set context information by using a constant
The following example demonstrates SET CONTEXT_INFO
by setting the value and displaying the results. Querying sys.dm_exec_sessions
requires SELECT and VIEW SERVER STATE permissions, whereas using the CONTEXT_INFO function does not.
SET CONTEXT_INFO 0x01010101;
GO
SELECT context_info
FROM sys.dm_exec_sessions
WHERE session_id = @@SPID;
GO
B. Set context information by using a function
The following example demonstrates using the output of a function to set the context value, where the value from the function must be first placed in a binary variable.
DECLARE @BinVar varbinary(128);
SET @BinVar = CAST(REPLICATE( 0x20, 128 ) AS varbinary(128) );
SET CONTEXT_INFO @BinVar;
SELECT CONTEXT_INFO() AS MyContextInfo;
GO