ASA SQL Reference
System Views
Adaptive Server Enterprise and Adaptive Server Anywhere have different system catalogs, reflecting the different uses for the two products.
In Adaptive Server Enterprise, a single master database contains a set of system tables, which information that applies to all databases on the server. Many databases may exist within the master database, and each has additional system tables associated with it.
In Adaptive Server Anywhere, each database exists independently, and contains its own system tables. There is no master database that contains system information on a collection of databases. Each server may run several databases at a time, dynamically loading and unloading each database as needed.
The Adaptive Server Enterprise and Adaptive Server Anywhere system catalogs are different. The Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables and views are owned by the special user dbo, and exist partly in the master database, partly in the sybsecurity database, and partly in each individual database; the Adaptive Server Anywhere system tables and views are owned by the special user SYS and exist separately in each database.
To assist in preparing compatible applications, Adaptive Server Anywhere provides a set of views owned by the special user dbo, which correspond to the Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables and views. Where architectural differences make the contents of a particular Adaptive Server Enterprise table or view meaningless in a Adaptive Server Anywhere context, the view is empty, containing just the column names and data types.
The following tables list the Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables and their implementation in the Adaptive Server Anywhere system catalog. The owner of all tables is dbo in each DBMS.
| Table name | Description | Data? |
|---|---|---|
| sysalternates | One row for each user mapped to a database user | No |
| syscolumns | One row for each column in a table or view, and for each parameter in a procedure | Yes |
| syscomments | One or more rows for each view, rule, default, trigger, and procedure, giving the SQL definition statement | Yes |
| sysconstraints | One row for each referential or check constraint associated with a table or column | No |
| sysdepends | One row for each procedure, view, or table that is referenced by a procedure, view, or trigger | No |
| sysindexes | One row for each clustered or nonclustered index, one row for each table with no indexes, and an additional row for each table containing text or image data. | Yes |
| syskeys | One row for each primary, foreign, or common key; set by the user (not maintained by Adaptive Server Enterprise) | No |
| syslogs | Transaction log | No |
| sysobjects | One row for each table, view, procedure, rule, trigger default, log, or (in tempdb only) temporary object | Contains compatible data only |
| sysprocedures | One row for each view, rule, default, trigger, or procedure, giving the internal definition | No |
| sysprotects | User permissions information | No |
| sysreferences | One row for each referential integrity constraint declared on a table or column | No |
| sysroles | Maps server-wide roles to local database groups | No |
| syssegments | One row for each segment (named collection of disk pieces) | No |
| systhresholds | One row for each threshold defined for the database | No |
| systypes | One row for each system-supplied or user-defined data type | Yes |
| sysusermessages | One row for each user-defined message | Yes (this is an Adaptive Server Anywhere system table) |
| sysusers | One row for each user allowed in the database | Yes |
| Table name | Description | Data? |
|---|---|---|
| syscharsets | One row for each character set or sort order | No |
| sysconfigures | One row for each user-settable configuration parameter | No |
| syscurconfigs | Information about configuration parameters currently being used by the server | No |
| sysdatabases | One row for each database on the server | No |
| sysdevices | One row for each tape dump device, disk dump device, disk for databases, or disk partition for databases | No |
| sysengines | One row for each server currently online | No |
| syslanguages | One row for each language (except U.S. English) known to the server | No |
| syslocks | Information about active locks | No |
| sysloginroles | One row for each server login that possesses a system-defined role | No |
| syslogins | One row for each valid user account | Yes |
| sysmessages | One row for each system error or warning | No |
| sysprocesses | Information about server processes | No |
| sysremotelogins | One row for each remote user | No |
| sysservers | One row for each remote server | No |
| syssrvroles | One row for each server-wide role | No |
| sysusages | One row for each disk piece allocated to a database | No |
| Table name | Description | Data? |
|---|---|---|
| sysaudits | One row for each audit record | No |
| sysauditoptions | One row for each global audit option | No |