One of the many new features that have been added to SQL Server 2005 is DDL triggers.

We use DML triggers in SQL Server 7.0 and 2000, which executes a bunch of SQL statements or procedures whenever an INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE statement is executed and limited to a table or view object. In SQL 2005, a trigger can be created in order to perform any action upon a DDL statement. The scope can be database level or Server level. DDL triggers are used when you want a certain action to be performed when a schema change occurs. Let us create a trigger that stops any user from executing Create, Alter and Drop table or procedure statement on a database. Let us assume that we have the database DDLTrTest and let us also assume that we have MyTable and Usp_Querymytable proc existing on the database DDLTrTest. Create the database and tables by using the following SQL statements. USE [MASTER] GO IF EXISTS (SELECT NAME FROM SYS.DATABASES WHERE NAME = N'DDLTRTEST') DROP DATABASE [DDLTRTEST] GO CREATE DATABASE DDLTRTEST GO USE [DDLTRTEST] GO IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM SYS.OBJECTS WHERE OBJECT_ID = OBJECT_ID(N'[DBO].[MYTABLE]') AND TYPE IN (N'U')) DROP TABLE [DBO].[MYTABLE] GO CREATE TABLE MYTABLE(ID INT, NAME VARCHAR(100)) GO INSERT INTO MYTABLE SELECT 1,'A' INSERT INTO MYTABLE SELECT 2,'B' INSERT INTO MYTABLE SELECT 3,'C' INSERT INTO MYTABLE SELECT 4,'D' INSERT INTO MYTABLE SELECT 5,'E' INSERT INTO MYTABLE SELECT 6,'F' GO USE [DDLTrTest] GO IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID(N'[dbo].[usp_querymytable]') AND type in (N'P', N'PC')) DROP PROCEDURE [dbo].[usp_querymytable] GO CREATE PROC USP_QUERYMYTABLE AS SELECT * FROM MYTABLE GO Let us create our DDL Trigger STOP_DDL_on_Table_and_PROC as shown below CREATE TRIGGER STOP_DDL_on_Table_and_PROC ON DATABASE FOR CREATE_TABLE,DROP_TABLE,

ALTER_TABLE,CREATE_PROCEDURE, ALTER_PROCEDURE,DROP_PROCEDURE AS SELECT EVENTDATA().value ('(/EVENT_INSTANCE/TSQLCommand/CommandText)[1]', 'nvarchar(max)') PRINT 'You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Tables and Procedures' ROLLBACK; Here we use the new function EVENTDATA() provided in SQL Server 2005 to capture the SQL Statement. Now let us try to add a column to the table Mytable by executing the following command. ALTER TABLE MYTABLE ADD X INT The result would be: ALTER TABLE MYTABLE ADD X INT (1 row(s) affected) You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Tables and Procedures Msg 3609, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 The transaction ended in the trigger. The batch has been aborted. Let us try to drop the table Mytable. DROP TABLE MYTABLE The result would be: DROP TABLE MYTABLE (1 row(s) affected) You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Tables and Procedures Msg 3609, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 The transaction ended in the trigger. The batch has been aborted. Let us try to create a new procedure. CREATE PROCEDURE USP_QUERYMYTABLE2 AS SELECT TOP 100 * FROM MYTABLE The result would be: CREATE PROCEDURE USP_QUERYMYTABLE2 AS SELECT TOP 100 * FROM MYTABLE (1 row(s) affected) You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Tables and Procedures Msg 3609, Level 16, State 2, Procedure USP_QUERYMYTABLE2, Line 3 The transaction ended in the trigger. The batch has been aborted. The DDL trigger STOP_DDL_on_Table_and_PROC that we created applies only to the databaseDDLTrTEST. Create, Alter and Drop statements can be executed on all other databases.

These triggers can be disabled or enabled or dropped by the following commands respectively. DISABLE TRIGGER STOP_DDL_ON_TABLE_AND_PROC ON DATABASE GO ENABLE TRIGGER STOP_DDL_ON_TABLE_AND_PROC ON DATABASE GO DROP TRIGGER STOP_DDL_ON_TABLE_AND_PROC ON DATABASE GO If you want to extend the scope of this trigger from database level to server level, then change the ON DATABASE to ON ALL SERVER as shown below. This DDL trigger stops the user from Creating, Altering and dropping any databases. CREATE TRIGGER STOP_DDL_on_Table_and_PROC ON ALL SERVER FOR CREATE_DATABASE,ALTER_DATABASE,DROP_DATABASE AS PRINT 'You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Databases' ROLLBACK; Now, let us try to create, drop and alter a database as shown below. USE MASTER GO CREATE DATABASE TEST GO ALTER DATABASE DDLTRTEST MODIFY FILE ( NAME = DDLTRTEST, FILENAME='D:\DDLTRTEST.MDF') GO USE MASTER GO DROP DATABASE DDLTRTEST GO The result would be You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Databases Msg 3609, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 The transaction ended in the trigger. The batch has been aborted. The file "DDLTRTEST" has been modified in the system catalog. The new path will be used the next time the database is started. You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Databases Msg 3609, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 The transaction ended in the trigger. The batch has been aborted. You are not allowed to CREATE,ALTER and DROP any Databases Msg 3609, Level 16, State 2, Line 1 The transaction ended in the trigger. The batch has been aborted. This Server level trigger can be disabled or enabled or dropped by executing the following SQL Command.

DISABLE TRIGGER STOP_DDL_ON_TABLE_AND_PROC ON ALL SERVER GO ENABLE TRIGGER STOP_DDL_ON_TABLE_AND_PROC ON ALL SERVER GO DROP TRIGGER STOP_DDL_ON_TABLE_AND_PROC ON ALL SERVER GO

Conclusion
This article has explored the new SQL Server 2005 feature "DDL trigger" and EVENTDATA() function.