SQL Server Cursor – Incorrect Order of Results

dynamic-sqlsql serversql-server-2005

I am writing some dynamic SQL to identify and, perhaps if I'm feeling crazy enough, automatically convert my NONCLUSTERED indexes into CLUSTERED indexes.

The line ORDER BY 1,2,3 DESC; in the SQL below is designed to output DROP INDEX... statements before ALTER TABLE... statements in order to DROP the NONCLUSTERED index first and then add a CLUSTERED index. I had to add the DESC after column 3 to get the DROP first followed by the ALTER. This is backwards, unless I'm losing it!

DECLARE @Server nvarchar(max);
DECLARE @Database nvarchar(max);
DECLARE @cmd nvarchar(max);
DECLARE @IndexType int;


SET @IndexType = 2; /*  1 is CLUSTERED, 2 is NONCLUSTERED */
SET @Server = 'MyServer';
SET @Database = 'MyDatabase';

SET @cmd = '
    DECLARE @cmd nvarchar(max);
    SET @cmd = ''
    SET NOCOUNT ON;
    DECLARE @IndexInfo TABLE (TableName nvarchar(255), IndexName nvarchar(255), IndexColumnName nvarchar(255));
    INSERT INTO @IndexInfo (TableName, IndexName, IndexColumnName)
    SELECT t.name AS TableName, i.name AS IndexName, c.name AS IndexColumnName /*, t.create_date, ic.*, c.* */
    FROM sys.tables t
        LEFT JOIN sys.indexes i ON t.object_id = i.object_id
        LEFT JOIN sys.index_columns ic ON i.object_id = ic.object_id AND i.index_id = ic.index_id
        LEFT JOIN sys.columns c ON i.object_id = c.object_id and ic.column_id = c.column_id
    WHERE i.is_primary_key = 1  
        AND i.type = ' + CAST(@IndexType as nvarchar(max)) + '
    ORDER BY t.create_date desc;
    DECLARE @t1 nvarchar(max);
    DECLARE @t2 nvarchar(max);
    DECLARE @t3 nvarchar(max);
    DECLARE @cmd nvarchar(max);
    DECLARE cur CURSOR FOR
    SELECT TableName, IndexName, 1 AS ExecOrder, ''''DROP INDEX '''' + IndexName + '''' ON '''' + TableName + '''';'''' FROM @IndexInfo I
    UNION ALL 
    SELECT TableName, IndexName, 2 AS ExecOrder, ''''ALTER TABLE '''' + TableName + '''' ADD CONSTRAINT PK_'''' + TableName + ''''_'''' + IndexColumnName + '''' PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED ('''' + IndexColumnName + '''')'''' + '''';'''' FROM @IndexInfo I
    ORDER BY 1,2,3 DESC;
    OPEN cur;
    FETCH NEXT FROM cur INTO @t1, @t2, @t3, @cmd;
    WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
    BEGIN
        PRINT @cmd;
        FETCH NEXT FROM cur INTO @t1, @t2, @t3, @cmd;
    END
    CLOSE cur;
    DEALLOCATE cur;
    '';
    EXEC ' + @Server + '.' + @Database + '.sys.sp_executesql @cmd;
';
PRINT @cmd;

Best Answer

The PRINT statement inside the WHILE loop does execute in the order you expect, but the output is buffered before sys.sp_executesql returns. Implementation details mean the buffered output is reversed.

Using RAISERROR (@cmd, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT; instead of PRINT forces the buffer to flush after each call, giving you the results in the order you expect. IIRC the NOWAIT trick only works per-row for the first 500 rows. In any case, all this is undocumented stuff that could change at any time, so please don't rely on it - I only mention it to explain what you see.

The reversal does not occur if you replace the sp_executesql call with EXEC (@cmd) AT ' + @Server + ' though that does require a USE database command prefixed to @cmd and also the linked server needs to be enabled for RPC. This is not a recommendation either, just showing the output reversal is a quirk of sp_executesql.