Get a list of changed records in a table

Is there a way to get a list of records that have changed since a specific
Date/Time?
I could create a trigger and a new table and work off that data but I have a
lot of tables I want to query so I don't necessarily want to create triggers
for each one.You cannot get this unless you have a datetime column on the table that you
update when data changes. or a triggering mechanism to store changed data.
--
Kevin G. Boles
Indicium Resources, Inc.
SQL Server MVP
kgboles a earthlink dt net
"Bishop" <nospam@.nospam.com> wrote in message
news:e9zRyVwqIHA.3900@.TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Is there a way to get a list of records that have changed since a specific
> Date/Time?
> I could create a trigger and a new table and work off that data but I have
> a lot of tables I want to query so I don't necessarily want to create
> triggers for each one.
>|||> Is there a way to get a list of records that have changed since a specific
> Date/Time?
No, SQL Server does not keep this information for you automagically.
> I could create a trigger and a new table and work off that data but I have
> a lot of tables I want to query so I don't necessarily want to create
> triggers for each one.
If you allow ad hoc access to your tables, then this is how it's done, I'm
afraid. If you deny INSERT/UPDATE rights to the table and force those
actions through stored procedures, then you could perform the logging within
a stored procedure, which at least avoids some of the problems with doing
this in a trigger. But for DELETE you would have to log to a separate table
or use a trigger.
While it doesn't help you today, SQL Server 2008 will have several options
to make this easier... from change tracking and change data capture to the
extreme of audit all actions.
A|||You could use the new OUTPUT clause to automatically pump the pre-existing
data into another table and then query that 2nd table
--
Sincerely,
John K
Knowledgy Consulting
http://knowledgy.org/
Atlanta's Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse Experts
"Bishop" <nospam@.nospam.com> wrote in message
news:e9zRyVwqIHA.3900@.TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Is there a way to get a list of records that have changed since a specific
> Date/Time?
> I could create a trigger and a new table and work off that data but I have
> a lot of tables I want to query so I don't necessarily want to create
> triggers for each one.
>

Generic Audit Trigger CLR C#(Works when the trigger is attached to any Table)

This Audit Trigger is Generic (i.e. non-"Table Specific") attach it to any tabel and it should work. Be sure and create the 'Audit' table first though.

The following code write audit entries to a Table called
'Audit'
with columns
'ActionType' //varchar
'TableName' //varchar
'PK' //varchar
'FieldName' //varchar
'OldValue' //varchar
'NewValue' //varchar
'ChangeDateTime' //datetime
'ChangeBy' //varchar

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;

public partial class Triggers
{
//A Generic Trigger for Insert, Update and Delete Actions on any Table
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlTrigger(Name = "AuditTrigger", Event = "FOR INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE")]

public static void AuditTrigger()
{
SqlTriggerContext tcontext = SqlContext.TriggerContext; //Trigger Context
string TName; //Where we store the Altered Table's Name
string User; //Where we will store the Database Username
DataRow iRow; //DataRow to hold the inserted values
DataRow dRow; //DataRow to how the deleted/overwritten values
DataRow aRow; //Audit DataRow to build our Audit entry with
string PKString; //Will temporarily store the Primary Key Column Names and Values here
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("context connection=true"))//Our Connection
{
conn.Open();//Open the Connection
//Build the AuditAdapter and Mathcing Table
SqlDataAdapter AuditAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM Audit WHERE 1=0", conn);
DataTable AuditTable = new DataTable();
AuditAdapter.FillSchema(AuditTable, SchemaType.Source);
SqlCommandBuilder AuditCommandBuilder = new SqlCommandBuilder(AuditAdapter);//Populates the Insert command for us
//Get the inserted values
SqlDataAdapter Loader = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT * from INSERTED", conn);
DataTable inserted = new DataTable();
Loader.Fill(inserted);
//Get the deleted and/or overwritten values
Loader.SelectCommand.CommandText = "SELECT * from DELETED";
DataTable deleted = new DataTable();
Loader.Fill(deleted);
//Retrieve the Name of the Table that currently has a lock from the executing command(i.e. the one that caused this trigger to fire)
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT object_name(resource_associated_entity_id) FROM
ys.dm_tran_locks WHERE request_session_id = @.@.spid and resource_type = 'OBJECT'", conn);
TName = cmd.ExecuteScalar().ToString();
//Retrieve the UserName of the current Database User
SqlCommand curUserCommand = new SqlCommand("SELECT system_user", conn);
User = curUserCommand.ExecuteScalar().ToString();
//Adapted the following command from a T-SQL audit trigger by Nigel Rivett
//http://www.nigelrivett.net/AuditTrailTrigger.html
SqlDataAdapter PKTableAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(@."SELECT c.COLUMN_NAME
from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS pk ,
INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE c
where pk.TABLE_NAME = '" + TName + @."'
and CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY'
and c.TABLE_NAME = pk.TABLE_NAME
and c.CONSTRAINT_NAME = pk.CONSTRAINT_NAME", conn);
DataTable PKTable = new DataTable();
PKTableAdapter.Fill(PKTable);
switch (tcontext.TriggerAction)//Switch on the Action occuring on the Table
{
case TriggerAction.Update:
iRow = inserted.Rows[0];//Get the inserted values in row form
dRow = deleted.Rows[0];//Get the overwritten values in row form
PKString = PKStringBuilder(PKTable, iRow);//the the Primary Keys and There values as a string
foreach (DataColumn column in inserted.Columns)//Walk through all possible Table Columns
{
if (!iRow[column.Ordinal].Equals(dRow[column.Ordinal]))//If value changed
{
//Build an Audit Entry
aRow = AuditTable.NewRow();
aRow["ActionType"] = "U";//U for Update
aRow["TableName"] = TName;
aRow["PK"] = PKString;
aRow["FieldName"] = column.ColumnName;
aRow["OldValue"] = dRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["NewValue"] = iRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["ChangeDateTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
aRow["ChangedBy"] = User;
AuditTable.Rows.InsertAt(aRow, 0);//Insert the entry
}
}
break;
case TriggerAction.Insert:
iRow = inserted.Rows[0];
PKString = PKStringBuilder(PKTable, iRow);
foreach (DataColumn column in inserted.Columns)
{
//Build an Audit Entry
aRow = AuditTable.NewRow();
aRow["ActionType"] = "I";//I for Insert
aRow["TableName"] = TName;
aRow["PK"] = PKString;
aRow["FieldName"] = column.ColumnName;
aRow["OldValue"] = null;
aRow["NewValue"] = iRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["ChangeDateTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
aRow["ChangedBy"] = User;
AuditTable.Rows.InsertAt(aRow, 0);//Insert the Entry
}
break;
case TriggerAction.Delete:
dRow = deleted.Rows[0];
PKString = PKStringBuilder(PKTable, dRow);
foreach (DataColumn column in inserted.Columns)
{
//Build and Audit Entry
aRow = AuditTable.NewRow();
aRow["ActionType"] = "D";//D for Delete
aRow["TableName"] = TName;
aRow["PK"] = PKString;
aRow["FieldName"] = column.ColumnName;
aRow["OldValue"] = dRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["NewValue"] = null;
aRow["ChangeDateTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
aRow["ChangedBy"] = User;
AuditTable.Rows.InsertAt(aRow, 0);//Insert the Entry
}
break;
default:
//Do Nothing
break;
}
AuditAdapter.Update(AuditTable);//Write all Audit Entries back to AuditTable
conn.Close(); //Close the Connection
}
}

//Helper function that takes a Table of the Primary Key Column Names and the modified rows Values
//and builds a string of the form "<PKColumn1Name=Value1>,PKColumn2Name=Value2>,......"
public static string PKStringBuilder(DataTable primaryKeysTable, DataRow valuesDataRow)
{
string temp = String.Empty;
foreach (DataRow kColumn in primaryKeysTable.Rows)//for all Primary Keys of the Table that is being changed
{
temp = String.Concat(temp, String.Concat("<", kColumn[0].ToString(), "=", valuesDataRow[kColumn[0].ToString)].ToString(), ">,"));
}
return temp;
}
}

The trick was getting the Table Name and the Primary Key Columns.
I hope this code is found useful.

Comments and Suggestion will be much appreciated.

Hi Shane,

This can be used to extend the below code I found on google for Visual Basic generit audit as well...

http://sqljunkies.com/Article/4CD01686-5178-490C-A90A-5AEEF5E35915.scuk

Just adding this code to David Ziffer's work (after opening connection):

Dim SourceTableStr As String = ""

Dim cmd As New SqlCommand

With cmd

.CommandText = "SELECT object_name(resource_associated_entity_id) " & _

"FROM sys.dm_tran_locks WHERE " & _

"request_session_id = @.@.spid and " & _

"resource_type = 'OBJECT' "

.Connection = Connection

.CommandType = CommandType.Text

SourceTableStr = cmd.ExecuteScalar().ToString

End With

And somewhere down the code, add:

TableName = SourceTableStr

Then, also make sure you

GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE to [username]

on the master database on your server, since this permission is required to access sys.dm_tran_locks ( I suppose that's also required for your C# code unless you assume the user has such right e.g. sysadmin).

Generic Audit Trigger CLR C#(Works when the trigger is attached to any Table)

This Audit Trigger is Generic (i.e. non-"Table Specific") attach it to any tabel and it should work. Be sure and create the 'Audit' table first though.

The following code write audit entries to a Table called
'Audit'
with columns
'ActionType' //varchar
'TableName' //varchar
'PK' //varchar
'FieldName' //varchar
'OldValue' //varchar
'NewValue' //varchar
'ChangeDateTime' //datetime
'ChangeBy' //varchar

using System;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using Microsoft.SqlServer.Server;

public partial class Triggers
{
//A Generic Trigger for Insert, Update and Delete Actions on any Table
[Microsoft.SqlServer.Server.SqlTrigger(Name = "AuditTrigger", Event = "FOR INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE")]

public static void AuditTrigger()
{
SqlTriggerContext tcontext = SqlContext.TriggerContext; //Trigger Context
string TName; //Where we store the Altered Table's Name
string User; //Where we will store the Database Username
DataRow iRow; //DataRow to hold the inserted values
DataRow dRow; //DataRow to how the deleted/overwritten values
DataRow aRow; //Audit DataRow to build our Audit entry with
string PKString; //Will temporarily store the Primary Key Column Names and Values here
using (SqlConnection conn = new SqlConnection("context connection=true"))//Our Connection
{
conn.Open();//Open the Connection
//Build the AuditAdapter and Mathcing Table
SqlDataAdapter AuditAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT * FROM Audit WHERE 1=0", conn);
DataTable AuditTable = new DataTable();
AuditAdapter.FillSchema(AuditTable, SchemaType.Source);
SqlCommandBuilder AuditCommandBuilder = new SqlCommandBuilder(AuditAdapter);//Populates the Insert command for us
//Get the inserted values
SqlDataAdapter Loader = new SqlDataAdapter("SELECT * from INSERTED", conn);
DataTable inserted = new DataTable();
Loader.Fill(inserted);
//Get the deleted and/or overwritten values
Loader.SelectCommand.CommandText = "SELECT * from DELETED";
DataTable deleted = new DataTable();
Loader.Fill(deleted);
//Retrieve the Name of the Table that currently has a lock from the executing command(i.e. the one that caused this trigger to fire)
SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT object_name(resource_associated_entity_id) FROM
ys.dm_tran_locks WHERE request_session_id = @.@.spid and resource_type = 'OBJECT'", conn);
TName = cmd.ExecuteScalar().ToString();
//Retrieve the UserName of the current Database User
SqlCommand curUserCommand = new SqlCommand("SELECT system_user", conn);
User = curUserCommand.ExecuteScalar().ToString();
//Adapted the following command from a T-SQL audit trigger by Nigel Rivett
//http://www.nigelrivett.net/AuditTrailTrigger.html
SqlDataAdapter PKTableAdapter = new SqlDataAdapter(@."SELECT c.COLUMN_NAME
from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS pk ,
INFORMATION_SCHEMA.KEY_COLUMN_USAGE c
where pk.TABLE_NAME = '" + TName + @."'
and CONSTRAINT_TYPE = 'PRIMARY KEY'
and c.TABLE_NAME = pk.TABLE_NAME
and c.CONSTRAINT_NAME = pk.CONSTRAINT_NAME", conn);
DataTable PKTable = new DataTable();
PKTableAdapter.Fill(PKTable);
switch (tcontext.TriggerAction)//Switch on the Action occuring on the Table
{
case TriggerAction.Update:
iRow = inserted.Rows[0];//Get the inserted values in row form
dRow = deleted.Rows[0];//Get the overwritten values in row form
PKString = PKStringBuilder(PKTable, iRow);//the the Primary Keys and There values as a string
foreach (DataColumn column in inserted.Columns)//Walk through all possible Table Columns
{
if (!iRow[column.Ordinal].Equals(dRow[column.Ordinal]))//If value changed
{
//Build an Audit Entry
aRow = AuditTable.NewRow();
aRow["ActionType"] = "U";//U for Update
aRow["TableName"] = TName;
aRow["PK"] = PKString;
aRow["FieldName"] = column.ColumnName;
aRow["OldValue"] = dRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["NewValue"] = iRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["ChangeDateTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
aRow["ChangedBy"] = User;
AuditTable.Rows.InsertAt(aRow, 0);//Insert the entry
}
}
break;
case TriggerAction.Insert:
iRow = inserted.Rows[0];
PKString = PKStringBuilder(PKTable, iRow);
foreach (DataColumn column in inserted.Columns)
{
//Build an Audit Entry
aRow = AuditTable.NewRow();
aRow["ActionType"] = "I";//I for Insert
aRow["TableName"] = TName;
aRow["PK"] = PKString;
aRow["FieldName"] = column.ColumnName;
aRow["OldValue"] = null;
aRow["NewValue"] = iRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["ChangeDateTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
aRow["ChangedBy"] = User;
AuditTable.Rows.InsertAt(aRow, 0);//Insert the Entry
}
break;
case TriggerAction.Delete:
dRow = deleted.Rows[0];
PKString = PKStringBuilder(PKTable, dRow);
foreach (DataColumn column in inserted.Columns)
{
//Build and Audit Entry
aRow = AuditTable.NewRow();
aRow["ActionType"] = "D";//D for Delete
aRow["TableName"] = TName;
aRow["PK"] = PKString;
aRow["FieldName"] = column.ColumnName;
aRow["OldValue"] = dRow[column.Ordinal].ToString();
aRow["NewValue"] = null;
aRow["ChangeDateTime"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
aRow["ChangedBy"] = User;
AuditTable.Rows.InsertAt(aRow, 0);//Insert the Entry
}
break;
default:
//Do Nothing
break;
}
AuditAdapter.Update(AuditTable);//Write all Audit Entries back to AuditTable
conn.Close(); //Close the Connection
}
}

//Helper function that takes a Table of the Primary Key Column Names and the modified rows Values
//and builds a string of the form "<PKColumn1Name=Value1>,PKColumn2Name=Value2>,......"
public static string PKStringBuilder(DataTable primaryKeysTable, DataRow valuesDataRow)
{
string temp = String.Empty;
foreach (DataRow kColumn in primaryKeysTable.Rows)//for all Primary Keys of the Table that is being changed
{
temp = String.Concat(temp, String.Concat("<", kColumn[0].ToString(), "=", valuesDataRow[kColumn[0].ToString)].ToString(), ">,"));
}
return temp;
}
}

The trick was getting the Table Name and the Primary Key Columns.
I hope this code is found useful.

Comments and Suggestion will be much appreciated.

Hi Shane,

This can be used to extend the below code I found on google for Visual Basic generit audit as well...

http://sqljunkies.com/Article/4CD01686-5178-490C-A90A-5AEEF5E35915.scuk

Just adding this code to David Ziffer's work (after opening connection):

Dim SourceTableStr As String = ""

Dim cmd As New SqlCommand

With cmd

.CommandText = "SELECT object_name(resource_associated_entity_id) " & _

"FROM sys.dm_tran_locks WHERE " & _

"request_session_id = @.@.spid and " & _

"resource_type = 'OBJECT' "

.Connection = Connection

.CommandType = CommandType.Text

SourceTableStr = cmd.ExecuteScalar().ToString

End With

And somewhere down the code, add:

TableName = SourceTableStr

Then, also make sure you

GRANT VIEW SERVER STATE to [username]

on the master database on your server, since this permission is required to access sys.dm_tran_locks ( I suppose that's also required for your C# code unless you assume the user has such right e.g. sysadmin).

sql

generate trigger automaticlly when create replicatoin?

Yes - for all merged tables there are triggers which'll
update the MSmerge_tombstone and MSmerge_contents tables.
HTH,
Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP,
www.replicationanswers.com/default.asp
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)
Hi paul:
My problem is that i couldn't insert new datas into those table ,which
has trigger generated by replication,
so what i am suppose to do with this,? can i just simply delete trigger ?
The error message i got is :
Invalid object name 'dbo.MSmerge_contents'. couldn't use view or
function'.............' because of binding errors
Cheers
nick
"Paul Ibison" <Paul.Ibison@.Pygmalion.Com> wrote in message
news:047101c53439$7ae97e70$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> Yes - for all merged tables there are triggers which'll
> update the MSmerge_tombstone and MSmerge_contents tables.
> HTH,
> Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP,
> www.replicationanswers.com/default.asp
> (recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
> http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)
>
|||Hi paul:
my problem is that i couldn't insert data into those tables have
triggers that generated by replication.
so what i am suppose to do with that? can i just simply delete those
trigger, and would it be effect when i doing replciation later?
cheers
nick
"Paul Ibison" <Paul.Ibison@.Pygmalion.Com> wrote in message
news:047101c53439$7ae97e70$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> Yes - for all merged tables there are triggers which'll
> update the MSmerge_tombstone and MSmerge_contents tables.
> HTH,
> Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP,
> www.replicationanswers.com/default.asp
> (recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
> http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)
>
|||Nick,
have you have removed the subscription? In this case try
using sp_removedbreplication to remove any lingering
traces. If you want the subscription to remain active,
then what error are you getting on an insert to the table?
Rgds,
Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP,
www.replicationanswers.com/default.asp
(recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)
|||hi paul:
the subscription here is from PDA. the errore i got is :
Invalid object name 'dbo.MSmerge_tombstone'.
Couldn't use view or function'tsvw_D758c7b90dd14f.........'
because of binding errors.
by the way , i already delete the publication associated with this
DB.
Cheers
Nick
"Paul Ibison" <Paul.Ibison@.Pygmalion.Com> wrote in message
news:108801c53502$7ba206b0$a501280a@.phx.gbl...
> Nick,
> have you have removed the subscription? In this case try
> using sp_removedbreplication to remove any lingering
> traces. If you want the subscription to remain active,
> then what error are you getting on an insert to the table?
> Rgds,
> Paul Ibison SQL Server MVP,
> www.replicationanswers.com/default.asp
> (recommended sql server 2000 replication book:
> http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602p.html)
>
|||Nick,
if sp_removedbreplication doesn't do the trick, then you'll have to remove
the triggers. Initially you could disable them all using sp_msforeachtable
"ALTER TABLE ? DISABLE TRIGGER ALL".
HTH,
Paul Ibison