Skip to content

sp-db-vardecimal-storage-format-transact-sql.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
115 lines (82 loc) · 4.91 KB

sp-db-vardecimal-storage-format-transact-sql.md

File metadata and controls

115 lines (82 loc) · 4.91 KB
title sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format (Transact-SQL)
description sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format returns the current vardecimal storage format state of a database, or enables a database for vardecimal storage format.
author markingmyname
ms.author maghan
ms.reviewer randolphwest
ms.date 06/23/2025
ms.service sql
ms.subservice system-objects
ms.topic reference
f1_keywords
sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format
sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format_TSQL
helpviewer_keywords
sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format
decimal data type, compressing
compressing decimal data
numeric data type, compressing
database compression [SQL Server]
table compression [SQL Server]
dev_langs
TSQL

sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Returns the current vardecimal storage format state of a database or enables a database for vardecimal storage format. In [!INCLUDE sql2008-md] and later versions, user databases are always enabled. However, because row-level compression achieves the same goals, the vardecimal storage format is deprecated. Enabling databases for the vardecimal storage format is only necessary in [!INCLUDE ssVersion2005].

Important

Changing the vardecimal storage format state of a database can affect backup and recovery, database mirroring, sp_attach_db, log shipping, and replication.

Syntax

sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format
    [ [ @dbname = ] N'dbname' ]
    [ , [ @vardecimal_storage_format = ] 'vardecimal_storage_format' ]
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @dbname = ] N'dbname'

The name of the database for which the storage format is to be changed. @dbname is sysname, with a default of NULL. If the database name is omitted, the vardecimal storage format status of all the databases in the instance of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] are returned.

[ @vardecimal_storage_format = ] 'vardecimal_storage_format'

Specifies whether the vardecimal storage format is enabled. @vardecimal_storage_format is varchar(3), with a default of NULL. @vardecimal_storage_format can be ON or OFF. If a database name is provided but @vardecimal_storage_format is omitted, the current setting of the specified database is returned.

This argument has no effect on [!INCLUDE sql2008-md] and later versions.

Return code values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Result set

If the database storage format can't be changed, sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format returns an error. If the database is already in the specified state, the stored procedure has no effect.

If the @vardecimal_storage_format argument isn't provided, sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format returns the columns Database Name and the Vardecimal State.

Remarks

sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format returns the vardecimal state, but can't change the vardecimal state.

sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format fails in the following circumstances:

  • There are active users in the database.
  • The database is enabled for mirroring.
  • The edition of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] doesn't support vardecimal storage format.

To change the vardecimal storage format state to OFF, a database must be set to the simple recovery model. When a database is set to simple recovery, the log chain is broken. Perform a full database backup after you set the vardecimal storage format state to OFF.

Changing the state to OFF fails if there are tables using vardecimal database compression. To change the storage format of a table, use sp_tableoption. To determine which tables in a database are using vardecimal storage format, use the OBJECTPROPERTY function and search for the TableHasVarDecimalStorageFormat property, as shown in the following example.

USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO

SELECT name,
       object_id,
       type_desc
FROM sys.objects
WHERE OBJECTPROPERTY(object_id, N'TableHasVarDecimalStorageFormat') = 1;
GO

Examples

The following code enables compression in the [!INCLUDE sssampledbobject-md] database, confirms the state, and then compresses decimal and numeric columns in the Sales.SalesOrderDetail table.

USE master;
GO

EXECUTE sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format 'AdventureWorks2022', 'ON';
GO

-- Check the vardecimal storage format state for
-- all databases in the instance.
EXECUTE sp_db_vardecimal_storage_format;
GO

USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO

EXECUTE sp_tableoption 'Sales.SalesOrderDetail', 'vardecimal storage format', 1;
GO

Related content