Question

Dropping a temp table that is not my own, or killing its owner process (AKA getting the SPID of the temp table's owner process)

Asked by: jimbobmcgee

We have a SQL Server 2000 legacy app that has a proc that utilises a #table.  That temp table has a named PK constraint which specifies the fill factor.  If the proc is run twice at the same time, an 'object exists'-type error is raised against the PK constraint.

I need a foolproof way to ensure this proc always runs and I figured I could either: specify the fill factor in an unnamed PK; or drop the named PK if it exists.  I don't think I can do the former and the latter is giving me grief.

I can get the OBJECT_ID of the temp table and the PK  If both are not NULL, I know the table is mine and can just drop it.  If the table ID is NULL, I know I have a problem.

I can't change the existing fixed table structure and I can't use normal tables or ##tables because the two concurrent processes can't write into the same table.  I can't bail the 2nd process if the 1st one exists because the cursed business logic suggests that the 2nd process must assume the 1st has bailed.   My only option, I feel, is to try and kill the 1st process.

So I need to get the SPID of the #table owner (from its OWNER_ID) and KILL it.

IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..tmpPK_account') IS NOT NULL 
	AND OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#deal_account') IS NOT NULL BEGIN
	-- i own the table so drop it
	DROP TABLE #deal_account
END
 
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..tmpPK_account') IS NOT NULL 
	AND OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#deal_account') IS NULL BEGIN
	-- i do not own the table so kill the owner
	
	-- this is the temp table object info
	SELECT * FROM tempdb..sysobjects WHERE id = (
		SELECT parent_obj 
		FROM tempdb..sysobjects 
		WHERE id = OBJECT_ID('tempdb..tmpPK_account')
	)
 
	DECLARE @spid INT, @kill VARCHAR(32)
 
	-- ...FILL IN THE BLANKS...
 
	SET @kill = 'KILL ' + CAST(@spid AS VARCHAR)
	EXEC (@kill)
END
 
-- ...later on...
CREATE TABLE [#Deal_Account] 
(
	[PARENT_ROLE] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
	[ROLE] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
	[ACCOUNT] [varchar] (100) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
	[DEAL] [varchar] (252) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
	[DEAL_LINE] [varchar] (252) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
	[id] [int] IDENTITY (0, 1) NOT NULL,
	CONSTRAINT [tmpPK_account] PRIMARY KEY NONCLUSTERED ([id]) 
		WITH FILLFACTOR = 90 
		ON [PRIMARY] 
)
                                  
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Asked On
2009-02-09 at 12:05:23ID24126979
Tags

SQL Server 2000

,

tempdb

Topic

MS SQL Server

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
3

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Answers

 

by: angelIIIPosted on 2009-02-09 at 12:57:55ID: 23594404

please try this syntax:

CREATE TABLE [#Deal_Account] 
(
        [PARENT_ROLE] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
        [ROLE] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
        [ACCOUNT] [varchar] (100) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
        [DEAL] [varchar] (252) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
        [DEAL_LINE] [varchar] (252) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL,
        [id] [int] IDENTITY (0, 1) NOT NULL,
        PRIMARY KEY NONCLUSTERED ([id]) 
                WITH FILLFACTOR = 90 
                ON [PRIMARY] 
)
                                              
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by: reb73Posted on 2009-02-09 at 13:09:30ID: 23594527

Not sure if you can trace the SPId and kill it, but an ugly alternative would be to find the original pk constraint and rename it as follows -

DECLARE @NewPKName varchar(50)
IF      OBJECT_ID('tempdb..pk_temptable', 'PK') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
      SELECT @NewPKNAME = 'pk_temptable_' + REPLACE(CONVERT(varchar(20),GETDATE(), 114), ':','')
      EXEC sp_rename 'pk_temptable', @NewPKName
END

 

by: jimbobmcgeePosted on 2009-02-10 at 02:57:57ID: 23599073

I had to make a minor change to the reb73's rename method, i.e.

EXEC tempdb..sp_rename 'tmpPK_account', 'OBJECT'

...otherwise I got one of the following errors:
  • No item by the name of 'tmpPK_a' could be found in the current database 'BMS_UK_STAR', given that @itemtype was input as '(null)'No item by the name of 'tmpPK_a' could be found in the current database 'BMS_UK_STAR', given that @itemtype was input as '(null)' 
  • Either the parameter @objname is ambiguous or the claimed @objtype (OBJECT) is wrong. 
In the end I decided to go with the unnamed constraint, as per angelIII.  Looking back at the BOL, I can clearly see that it is possible to specify a table-level constraint without a name and that I was just reading it wrong...

That said, both approaches appear to work, so thanks to both of you.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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