SQL Server v.Next (Denali) : New, Changed and Removed System Objects

While it's still only the CTP1 timeframe, getting a glimpse of the changes in system objects can start preparing you for what's coming – especially when there are potential breaking changes, as you'll see below. Sure, a few of these things can change (and hopefully be fixed!) as the product gets closer to release, but once you have the scripts on disk, you can take a pulse at any time. Obviously, queries that go after the system objects directly are going to be much less tedious and annoying than trying to parse Books Online for changes (even if you assume that Books Online is up to date – which, as you'll see below, is not the case).

Before starting, I'll assume that you have a 2008 R2 instance and a Denali instance; these instances should have valid linked servers pointing at each other. In the code below you will see references to fairly intuitive linked server names: [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2] and [GREENLANTERN\DENALI]. I will try to remember to make it clear which instance the code should run from (in a few cases it matters, because functions like OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME() don't work remotely without using [linked server].sys.sp_executesql).

New system objects in SQL Server "Denali"

This is a query run from the Denali server that will find objects that did not exist in 2008 R2. I had to code in an exclusion in the where clause; while sp_MS_marksystemobject certainly exists in 2008 R2, it does not appear in sys.all_objects the way it does in Denali.

SELECT
    [name] = N'sys.' + o.name,
    [type] = o.type_desc
FROM
    [master].sys.all_objects AS o
LEFT OUTER JOIN
    [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2].[master].sys.all_objects AS oo
ON
    o.name = oo.name
    AND o.[schema_id] = oo.[schema_id]
WHERE
    oo.name IS NULL
    AND o.[schema_id] = 4
    AND o.name <> N'sp_MS_marksystemobject'
ORDER BY
    o.type_desc,
    o.name;

Some of these objects are documented, but several still are not listed in the current version of Denali BOL. I was going to remove the links for the items that aren't documented, but I'll leave all of the search links intact so that they will continue to work when they *are* added to Books Online.

name	type
sys.sp_availability_group_command_internal	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_describe_first_result_set	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_describe_undeclared_parameters	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_migrate_user_to_contained	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_server_diagnostics	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.dm_db_objects_disabled_on_compatibility_level_change	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set_for_object	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_fts_index_keywords_by_property	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logconsumer_cachebufferrefs	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logconsumer_privatecachebuffers	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logpool_consumers	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logpool_sharedcachebuffers	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logpoolmgr_freepools	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logpoolmgr_respoolsize	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.dm_logpoolmgr_stats	SQL_INLINE_TABLE_VALUED_FUNCTION
sys.sp_filestream_force_garbage_collection	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_filestream_recalculate_container_size	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_help_spatial_geography_histogram	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_help_spatial_geometry_histogram	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_sequence_get_range	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sysclones	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysdbfiles	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysftproperties	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysmatrixages	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysmatrixbricks	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysmatrixconfig	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysmatrixmanagers	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.sysxmitbody	SYSTEM_TABLE
sys.availability_groups	VIEW
sys.availability_replicas	VIEW
sys.dm_db_uncontained_entities	VIEW
sys.dm_hadr_availability_group_states	VIEW
sys.dm_hadr_availability_replica_states	VIEW
sys.dm_hadr_database_replica_states	VIEW
sys.dm_hadr_database_synchronization_states	VIEW
sys.dm_hadr_instance_node_map	VIEW
sys.dm_hadr_name_id_map	VIEW
sys.dm_logpool_hashentries	VIEW
sys.dm_logpool_stats	VIEW
sys.registered_search_properties	VIEW
sys.registered_search_property_lists	VIEW
sys.sequences	VIEW

System objects dropped in SQL Server "Denali"

We can run a query similar to the above from the 2008 R2 instance, to see what kind of things will no longer work in Denali.

SELECT
    [name] = N'sys.' + o.name,
    [type] = o.type_desc
FROM
    [master].sys.all_objects AS o
LEFT OUTER JOIN
    [GREENLANTERN\DENALI].[master].sys.all_objects AS oo
ON
    o.name = oo.name
    AND o.[schema_id] = oo.[schema_id]
WHERE
    oo.name IS NULL
    AND o.[schema_id] = 4
ORDER BY
    o.type_desc,
    o.name;

The results: these are mostly XPs that have been marked for deprecation several versions ago (and actually are still marked as "future deprecated" in the current Denali Books Online – see Connect #625200). However I cannot yet explain the service broker DMV that is missing; I filed a bug about this in Connect #625206.

name	type
sys.sp_batch_params	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_fetchLOBfromcookie	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_adsirequest	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_deletemail	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_findnextmsg	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_get_mapi_default_profile	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_get_mapi_profiles	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_MSADEnabled	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_MSADSIObjReg	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_MSADSIObjRegDB	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_MSADSIReg	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_readmail	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_sendmail	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_startmail	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_stopmail	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.xp_test_mapi_profile	EXTENDED_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_ActiveDirectory_Obj	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_ActiveDirectory_SCP	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_ActiveDirectory_Start	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_dropalias	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_MScheckIsPubOfSub	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.sp_processmail	SQL_STORED_PROCEDURE
sys.database_principal_aliases	VIEW
sys.dm_broker_forwarded_messages	VIEW

View columns added or changed in SQL Server "Denali"

This query, run on the Denali instance, will show new or changed columns compared to SQL Server 2008 R2:

;WITH r AS
(
    SELECT
        c.[object_id],
        [schema]      = OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(c.[object_id]),
        viewname      = v.name,
        col           = c.name,
        t             = c.system_type_id,
        [type]        = t.name,
        c.[precision],
        c.scale,
        c.max_length
    FROM
        [master].sys.all_columns AS c
    INNER JOIN
        [master].sys.all_views AS v
        ON c.[object_id] = v.[object_id]
    INNER JOIN
        [master].sys.types AS t
        ON t.system_type_id = c.system_type_id
    WHERE
        t.name <> N'sysname'
)
SELECT
    [status] = CASE
        WHEN l.viewname IS NULL THEN 'new'
        ELSE 'changed'
    END,
    r.[schema],
    r.viewname,
    r.col,
    r.[type],
    FormerType = l.[type],
    r.[precision],
    FormerPrecision = l.[precision],
    r.scale,
    FormerScale = l.scale,
    max_length = r.max_length / CASE 
        WHEN r.[type] = N'nvarchar' THEN 2 ELSE 1 END,
    FormerMaxLength = l.max_length / CASE 
        WHEN l.[type] = N'nvarchar' THEN 2 ELSE 1 END
FROM
    r
LEFT OUTER JOIN
(
    SELECT
        [schema] = s.name,
        viewname = v.name,
        col = c.name,
        t = c.system_type_id,
        [type] = t.name,
        c.[precision],
        c.scale,
        c.max_length
    FROM
        [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2].[master].sys.all_columns AS c
    INNER JOIN
        [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2].[master].sys.all_views AS v
        ON c.[object_id] = v.[object_id]
    INNER JOIN
        [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2].[master].sys.schemas AS s
        ON v.[schema_id] = s.[schema_id]
    INNER JOIN
        [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2].[master].sys.types AS t
        ON c.system_type_id = t.system_type_id
    WHERE
        t.name <> N'sysname'
) AS l
ON
    r.viewname = l.viewname
    AND r.[schema] = l.[schema]
    AND r.col = l.col
WHERE
    (
        l.col IS NULL
        OR
        (
            r.t <> COALESCE(l.t, -10)
            OR r.[precision] <> COALESCE(l.[precision], -10)
            OR r.scale <> COALESCE(l.scale, -10)
            OR r.max_length <> COALESCE(l.max_length, -10)
        )
    )
    AND EXISTS
    (
        SELECT 1
            FROM [GREENLANTERN\SQL2008R2].[master].sys.all_views
            WHERE name = r.viewname
    )
ORDER BY
   [status] DESC,
   r.viewname,
   r.col;

The results: many new property columns for sys.databases, several new (well, renamed; see below) memory usage indicators in a few key DMVs, and some new columns around contained databases. (Please note that not all of the columns should imply that those features, e.g. two-digit year cutoff, will be supported in the next major version of SQL Server.) Also, a handful of the big string columns in various DMVs have been widened from 256 or 2,048 characters to 3,072; I'm not sure if any of these caused bugs in earlier versions, or they are just being proactive.

column status	view name	column name	new data type	old data type
new	sys.all_sql_modules	is_contained	bit	–
new	sys.data_spaces	is_system	bit	–
new	sys.database_principals	authentication_type	int	–
new	sys.database_principals	authentication_type_desc	nvarchar(60)	–
new	sys.database_principals	default_language_lcid	int	–
new	sys.database_principals	default_language_name	nvarchar(128)	–
new	sys.databases	containment	tinyint	–
new	sys.databases	containment_desc	nvarchar(60)	–
new	sys.databases	default_fulltext_language_lcid	int	–
new	sys.databases	default_fulltext_language_name	nvarchar(128)	–
new	sys.databases	default_language_lcid	smallint	–
new	sys.databases	default_language_name	nvarchar(128)	–
new	sys.databases	group_database_id	uniqueidentifier	–
new	sys.databases	is_nested_triggers_on	bit	–
new	sys.databases	is_transform_noise_words_on	bit	–
new	sys.databases	replica_id	uniqueidentifier	–
new	sys.databases	two_digit_year_cutoff	smallint	–
new	sys.dm_clr_appdomains	compatibility_level	int	–
new	sys.dm_database_encryption_keys	encryptor_type	nvarchar(128)	–
new	sys.dm_db_file_space_usage	allocated_extent_page_count	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_db_file_space_usage	filegroup_id	smallint	–
new	sys.dm_db_file_space_usage	total_page_count	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_exec_cached_plans	global_token	varbinary(14)	–
new	sys.dm_exec_sessions	authenticating_database_id	int	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_cache_counters	pages_in_use_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_cache_counters	pages_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_cache_entries	pages_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_clerks	page_size_in_bytes	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_clerks	pages_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_nodes	foreign_committed_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_nodes	pages_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_objects	max_pages_in_bytes	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_memory_objects	pages_in_bytes	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	committed_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	committed_target_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	physical_memory_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	virtual_machine_type	int	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	virtual_machine_type_desc	nvarchar(60)	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	virtual_memory_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_sys_info	visible_target_kb	bigint	–
new	sys.dm_os_worker_local_storage	query_driver_address	varbinary(8)	–
new	sys.filegroups	is_system	bit	–
new	sys.fulltext_indexes	property_list_id	int	–
new	sys.partition_functions	is_system	bit	–
new	sys.partition_schemes	is_system	bit	–
new	sys.server_event_session_events	predicate_xml	nvarchar(0)	–
new	sys.server_principals	is_fixed_role	bit	–
new	sys.server_principals	owning_principal_id	int	–
new	sys.server_trigger_events	is_trigger_event	bit	–
new	sys.sql_modules	is_contained	bit	–
new	sys.trigger_events	is_trigger_event	bit	–
changed	sys.dm_os_memory_cache_entries	entry_data	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(2048)
changed	sys.dm_os_ring_buffers	record	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(2048)
changed	sys.dm_os_waiting_tasks	resource_description	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(2048)
changed	sys.dm_xe_map_values	map_value	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(2048)
changed	sys.dm_xe_object_columns	description	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(256)
changed	sys.dm_xe_objects	description	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(256)
changed	sys.dm_xe_packages	description	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(256)
changed	sys.dm_xe_session_events	event_predicate	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(2048)
changed	sys.dm_xe_session_object_columns	column_value	nvarchar(3072)	nvarchar(2048)
changed	sys.syscacheobjects	cacheobjtype	nvarchar(50)	nvarchar(17)

Columns dropped from SQL Server "Denali"

And finally, we should check for columns that have been dropped from DMVs or catalog views, since cpu_ticks_in_ms was dropped from sys.dm_os_sys_info in SQL Server 2008 with little fanfare. On the 2008 R2 instance, you can run this query:

;WITH r AS
(
    SELECT
        c.[object_id],
        [schema] = OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(c.[object_id]),
        viewname = v.name,
        col = c.name
    FROM
        [master].sys.all_columns AS c
    INNER JOIN
        [master].sys.all_views AS v
        ON c.[object_id] = v.[object_id]
)
SELECT
    r.[schema],
    r.viewname,
    r.col
FROM
    r
LEFT OUTER JOIN
(
    SELECT
        [schema] = s.name,
        viewname = v.name,
        col = c.name
    FROM
        [GREENLANTERN\DENALI].[master].sys.all_columns AS c
    INNER JOIN
        [GREENLANTERN\DENALI].[master].sys.all_views AS v
        ON c.[object_id] = v.[object_id]
    INNER JOIN
        [GREENLANTERN\DENALI].[master].sys.schemas AS s
        ON v.[schema_id] = s.[schema_id]
) AS l
ON
    r.viewname = l.viewname
    AND r.[schema] = l.[schema]
    AND r.col = l.col
WHERE
    l.col IS NULL
    AND EXISTS
    (
        SELECT 1
            FROM [GREENLANTERN\DENALI].[master].sys.all_views
            WHERE name = r.viewname
    )
ORDER BY
   r.viewname,
   r.col;

The results: as it turns out, the only columns that have been "dropped" are the ones that have been renamed or consolidated (they are listed as new above).

view name	column name
sys.dm_os_memory_cache_counters	multi_pages_in_use_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_cache_counters	multi_pages_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_cache_counters	single_pages_in_use_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_cache_counters	single_pages_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_cache_entries	pages_allocated_count
sys.dm_os_memory_clerks	multi_pages_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_clerks	page_size_bytes
sys.dm_os_memory_clerks	single_pages_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_nodes	multi_pages_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_nodes	single_pages_kb
sys.dm_os_memory_objects	max_pages_allocated_count
sys.dm_os_memory_objects	pages_allocated_count
sys.dm_os_sys_info	bpool_commit_target
sys.dm_os_sys_info	bpool_committed
sys.dm_os_sys_info	bpool_visible
sys.dm_os_sys_info	physical_memory_in_bytes
sys.dm_os_sys_info	virtual_memory_in_bytes

If you're currently using any of these DMVs in your own code, this is potentially a major breaking change – you may want to make note of the columns that have changed, as upgrading to Denali may break some of your scripts.

cinahcaM madA says:

December 1, 2010 at 8:19 PM

Why do you want sys.functions? sys.procedures actually has some information that's not in sys.objects; I don't think any additional columns would exist in sys.functions, so it would just be the same as writing a predicate on sys.objects. Seems like a waste of space to me.
AaronBertrand says:

December 1, 2010 at 6:59 PM

Marc, they are considering it. But only 3 votes in 2+ years? It's not going to float to the top of the priority list with all that enthusiasm.
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/363452/needed-catalog-view-for-functions
Marc Scheuner says:

December 1, 2010 at 9:18 AM

Sheesh – seems that Microsoft has **STILL** not added a "sys.functions" catalog view. Why do we have a "sys.procedures", but no "sys.functions" ?? About time they would fix that!!
Matt whitfield says:

November 30, 2010 at 1:00 AM

Awesome work sir – glad I'm on the right track adding denali ctp1 support with my apps…
AaronBertrand says:

November 29, 2010 at 7:04 PM

Arthur, I don't think it's ever too early. By the time the public gets CTP1, pretty much all of the functionality is either baked in or decided. You won't see a lot of change between now and, say, CTP3 except that the UI bits will be coded in to support the underlying changes that are already in place. Better to be prepared early than wait until the last minute.
Arthur says:

November 29, 2010 at 6:54 PM

Isn't it too early to talk about new/depreciated objects if "Denali" is still in CTP1?
AaronBertrand says:

November 29, 2010 at 6:17 PM

Thanks Adam, yes the memory DMVs certainly have the potential to break existing code – not just column existence, but also what do the columns mean (notice that some metrics have been consolidated). But even the additional column on sys.dm_exec_sessions can break code that uses SELECT INTO or INSERT … SELECT * to capture the DMV values (I haven't checked out what MDW does, but as for custom code out there, all bets are off). Maybe this is a place where the enhancements for metadata discovery can help.
cinahcaM madA says:

November 29, 2010 at 6:07 PM

Great work, Aaron. Interesting to note the changes to the memory DMVs. Will definitely have to dig in there sooner rather than later.
Scott Whigham says:

November 29, 2010 at 6:00 PM

Wow – great post. Thanks for sharing – bookmarked!
Pradeep Adiga says:

November 29, 2010 at 5:21 PM

That is a comprehensive list. Thanks Aaron!