sp-depends-transact-sql.md

title	sp_depends (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	03/16/2017
ms.prod	sql
ms.prod_service	database-engine
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ms.technology	system-objects
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f1_keywords	sp_depends sp_depends_TSQL
dev_langs	TSQL
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sp_depends (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2008-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md]

Displays information about database object dependencies, such as the views and procedures that depend on a table or view, and the tables and views that are depended on by the view or procedure. References to objects outside the current database are not reported.

Important

[!INCLUDEssNoteDepFutureAvoid] Use sys.dm_sql_referencing_entities and sys.dm_sql_referenced_entities instead.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

  
sp_depends [ @objname = ] '<object>'   
  
<object> ::=  
{  
    [ database_name. [ schema_name ] . | schema_name.  
    object_name  
}  

Arguments

database_name
Is the name of the database.

schema_name
Is the name of the schema to which the object belongs.

object_name
Is the database object to examine for dependencies. The object can be a table, view, stored procedure, user-defined function, or trigger. object_name is nvarchar(776), with no default.

Return Code Values

0 (success) or 1 (failure)

Result Sets

sp_depends displays two result sets.

The following result set shows the objects on which <object> depends.

Column name	Data type	Description
name	nvarchar(257 )	Name of the item for which a dependency exists.
type	nvarchar(16)	Type of the item.
updated	nvarchar(7)	Whether the item is updated.
selected	nvarchar(8)	Whether the item is used in a SELECT statement.
column	sysname	Column or parameter on which the dependency exists.

The following result set shows the objects that depend on <object>.

Column name	Data type	Description
name	nvarchar(257 )	Name of the item for which a dependency exists.
type	nvarchar(16)	Type of the item.

Permissions

Requires membership in the public role.

Examples

A. Listing dependencies on a table

The following example lists the database objects that depend on the Sales.Customer table in the [!INCLUDEssSampleDBobject] database. Both the schema name and table name are specified.

USE AdventureWorks2012;  
GO  
EXEC sp_depends @objname = N'Sales.Customer' ;  

B. Listing dependencies on a trigger

The following example lists the database objects on which the trigger iWorkOrder depends.

EXEC sp_depends @objname = N'AdventureWorks2012.Production.iWorkOrder' ;  

See Also

Database Engine Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)
EXECUTE (Transact-SQL)
sp_help (Transact-SQL)
System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)
sys.sql_dependencies (Transact-SQL)