sp_depends (Transact-SQL)

Article
02/28/2023

Applies to: SQL Server

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

This feature will be removed in a future version of SQL Server. Avoid using this feature in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use this feature. 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 AdventureWorks2022 database. Both the schema name and table name are specified.

USE AdventureWorks2022;  
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'AdventureWorks2022.Production.iWorkOrder' ;