Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Data Management:
DataServer for Microsoft SQL Server

Verifying a schema holder

The Verify Table Definition utility allows you to verify that the schema holder for your data source matches the data definitions in the data source. For example, if you delete the customer table from the data source but not from the schema holder, this utility reports that the schema holder contains an orphaned object. You can verify the schema information in a single table or from multiple tables, and then choose to update the tables so that the schema information matches the data source definitions.

The Verify utility reads the definitions in the data source and compares them to the information in the schema holder. It reports the differences that it finds and their degree of severity. These are the categories of differences and how they impact your database applications:

Minor — These differences have no impact on the usability of your application.
Retained — These differences cannot be corrected by the Update/Add utility, hence the term “retained.” You must determine how severely they impact your application and change the data definitions either in the schema holder using the Data Dictionary or in the data source.
Severe — These differences might cause your application to malfunction. When the Verify utility detects severe differences, it automatically updates the schema holder to solve the discrepancies by adjusting the schema-image information in the schema holder to match the data source definitions. Severe differences in definitions that the DataServer uses internally also cause the schema holder to be updated.

Table 7–4 lists the differences that this utility detects.

Table 7–4: Verify utility report

Database object	Difference	Category
Table	Description	Retained
Table	Foreign type	Severe
Table	Name in OpenEdge	Retained
Table	Package name	Severe
Table	ROWID index	Retained
Index	Active	Minor
Index	Description	Retained
Index	Name in OpenEdge	Retained
Index	Unique	Retained1
Index field	Abbreviated	Minor
Index field	Ascending	Severe
Index field	Order	Severe
Field	Case sensitivity	Retained
Field	Decimals	Retained2
Field	Description	Retained
Field	Extent	Severe
Field	Initial value	Retained2
Field	Mandatory	Retained
Field	Name in OpenEdge	Retained
Field	Order	Retained
Field	OpenEdge data type	Retained2
Field	OpenEdge format	Retained2
Field	Shadow-column Name	Severe

1 When you update an index, it is flagged as unique if it was defined as unique in the data source or the schema holder. 2If the corresponding information in the data source is incompatible with the information in the schema holder, the affected fields are not updated. For example, if the data source data type is decimal and the OpenEdge data type is CHARACTER, the data type information is not updated.

To verify a table:

Access the Data Administration tool, if you are not already there, and select DataServer MS SQL Server Utilities Verify Table Definition. The following dialog box appears:



Type preselection criteria values into the fields if desired. These values preselect the data source objects that the utility uses to update the schema holder. By default, the wild card symbol (*) appears; it specifies that the utility uses all of the objects in the data source.
By default, the utility verifies objects in the schema holder that match objects in the data source. To check whether there are objects in the data source that are not represented in the schema holder, deselect the toggle box Verify only objects that currently exist in the schema holder.
There is a 32K limit on the contents of the verify report. Select Output differences to file if you anticipate a large volume of differences, or wish to save the report. The file that is produced will be named, <ldbname>+.vfy and will be written to the working directory.
Choose OK. A dialog box lists the objects and table information that you preselected. For example:



Select the objects that you want to update, then choose OK.
To select tables by matching a pattern, choose the Select Some button. The following dialog box appears:



Type the pattern that you want to match, then choose OK to start the verification. If you did not choose to output the differences to a file, dialog boxes that list the objects and the verification results appears:



When reading the text of the report, SH indicates the value in the schema image; NS indicated the value in the MS SQL Server database. For example:



Choose Close to return to the Schema Verify dialog box.
The utility automatically selects objects with severe differences for updating. You can select or deselect all other objects as you wish. Note that you must resolve retained differences manually. Retained differences appear in subsequent reports until you resolve them.
Choose OK to start the update or Cancel to quit the utility without updating the schema holder.