DB2 – Why RUNSTATS/REORG Cannot Be Used in Trigger Definitions

The row-versioning framework introduced in SQL Server 2005 is used to support a number of features, including the new transaction isolation levels READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT and SNAPSHOT. Even when neither of these isolation levels are enabled, row-versioning is still used for AFTER triggers (to facilitate generation of the inserted and deleted pseudo-tables), MARS, and (in a separate version store) online indexing.

As documented, the engine may add a 14-byte postfix to each row of a table that is versioned for any of these purposes. This behaviour is relatively well-known, as is the addition of the 14-byte data to every row of an index that is rebuilt online with a row-versioning isolation level enabled. Even where the isolation levels are not enabled, one extra byte is added to non-clustered indexes only when rebuilt ONLINE.

Where an AFTER trigger is present, and versioning would otherwise add 14 bytes per row, an optimization exists within the engine to avoid this, but where a ROW_OVERFLOW or LOB allocation cannot occur. In practice, this means the maximum possible size of a row must be less than 8060 bytes. In calculating maximum possible row sizes, the engine assumes for example that a VARCHAR(460) column could contain 460 characters.

The behaviour is easiest to see with an AFTER UPDATE trigger, though the same principle applies to AFTER DELETE. The following script creates a table with a maximum in-row length of 8060 bytes. The data fits on a single page, with 13 bytes of free space on that page. A no-op trigger exists, so the page is split and versioning information added:

USE Sandpit;
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.Example
(
    ID          integer NOT NULL IDENTITY(1,1),
    Value       integer NOT NULL,
    Padding1    char(42) NULL,
    Padding2    varchar(8000) NULL,

    CONSTRAINT PK_Example_ID
    PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED (ID)
);
GO
WITH
    N1 AS (SELECT 1 AS n UNION ALL SELECT 1),
    N2 AS (SELECT L.n FROM N1 AS L CROSS JOIN N1 AS R),
    N3 AS (SELECT L.n FROM N2 AS L CROSS JOIN N2 AS R),
    N4 AS (SELECT L.n FROM N3 AS L CROSS JOIN N3 AS R)
INSERT TOP (137) dbo.Example
    (Value)
SELECT
    ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY (SELECT 0))
FROM N4;
GO
ALTER INDEX PK_Example_ID 
ON dbo.Example 
REBUILD WITH (FILLFACTOR = 100);
GO
SELECT
    ddips.index_type_desc,
    ddips.alloc_unit_type_desc,
    ddips.index_level,
    ddips.page_count,
    ddips.record_count,
    ddips.max_record_size_in_bytes
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Example', N'U'), 1, 1, 'DETAILED') AS ddips
WHERE
    ddips.index_level = 0;
GO
CREATE TRIGGER ExampleTrigger
ON dbo.Example
AFTER DELETE, UPDATE
AS RETURN;
GO
UPDATE dbo.Example
SET Value = -Value
WHERE ID = 1;
GO
SELECT
    ddips.index_type_desc,
    ddips.alloc_unit_type_desc,
    ddips.index_level,
    ddips.page_count,
    ddips.record_count,
    ddips.max_record_size_in_bytes
FROM sys.dm_db_index_physical_stats(DB_ID(), OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Example', N'U'), 1, 1, 'DETAILED') AS ddips
WHERE
    ddips.index_level = 0;
GO
DROP TABLE dbo.Example;

The script produces the output shown below. The single-page table is split into two pages, and the maximum physical row length has increased from 57 to 71 bytes (= +14 bytes for the row-versioning information).

DBCC PAGE shows that the single updated row has Record Attributes = NULL_BITMAP VERSIONING_INFO Record Size = 71, whereas all other rows in the table have Record Attributes = NULL_BITMAP; record Size = 57.

The same script, with the UPDATE replaced by a single row DELETE produces the output shown:

DELETE dbo.Example
WHERE ID = 1;

There is one fewer row in total (of course!), but the maximum physical row size has not increased. Row versioning information is only added to rows needed for the trigger pseudo-tables, and that row was ultimately deleted. The page split remains, however. This page-splitting activity is responsible for the slow performance observed when the trigger was present. If the definition of the Padding2 column is changed from varchar(8000) to varchar(7999), the page no longer splits.

Also see this blog post by SQL Server MVP Dmitri Korotkevitch, which also discusses the impact on fragmentation.

You should strictly check for the end of the loop inside the loop

create trigger my_trigger after delete on my_table 
for each row 
begin 

declare my_value int; 
declare num_rows int default 0; 
declare done int default false; 
declare my_cursor cursor for select value from table where condition; 
declare continue handler for sqlstate '02000' set done = 1; 

open my_cursor; 

-- This is just for debugging 
insert into log_table(key, value) values('foo', num_rows); 

cursor_loop:repeat 
    if done then
        leave cursor_loop;
    end if;
    fetch my_cursor into my_value; 
    -- Do stuff 
    until done
end repeat; 

close my_cursor; 

end 

This would also eliminate have to check the count

Give it a Try !!!

Looking at your pseudcode

create trigger my_trigger after delete on my_table 
for each row 
begin 

declare my_value int; 
declare num_rows int default 0; 
declare done int default false; 
declare my_cursor cursor for select value from table where condition; 
declare continue handler for sqlstate '02000' set done = 1; 

open my_cursor; 

-- This is just for debugging 
insert into log_table(key, value) values('foo', num_rows); 

cursor_loop:repeat 
    if done then
        leave cursor_loop;
    end if;
    fetch my_cursor into my_value; 
    -- Do stuff 

    select some_value into some_field from other_table where some_conditions;
    if (some_field is null) then
        delete from my_table where my_condition;
    else
        update my_table set key1 = value1 where condition1;

    until done
end repeat; 

close my_cursor; 

end 

It may not be a good idea to perform an UPDATE on my_table when you are right in the middle of an after DELETE trigger on the same table. Also, notice you are also causing a DELETE under if (some_field is null) then on the same table.

You are probably better off writing this trigger as a Stored Procedure and manually using the Call to it instead of nesting UPDATE of a table inside DELETE on the same table.