Trying to create a table of table names and max values - sql

Question

In SQL Server, we have a number of tables, all containing a field last_modified that records when a particular record was created, modified, or flagged for deletion. I want to create a table of table names and the max() value of last_modified.
I'm brute forcing it as follows:
I run a query modified from Query to list number of records in each table in a database to list tables that have rows and eliminate some internal tables.
SELECT
t.NAME AS TableName,
p.[Rows]
FROM
sys.tables t
INNER JOIN
sys.indexes i ON t.OBJECT_ID = i.object_id
INNER JOIN
sys.partitions p ON i.object_id = p.OBJECT_ID AND i.index_id = p.index_id
WHERE
t.NAME NOT LIKE 'dt%' AND t.name not like '%ml%' and
t.NAME not in ('OrderHeaders', 'OrderHeaderExtendedText', 'OrderLIDetails', 'OrderLIDetailExtendedText', 'UserCustomerXRef', 'UserDetails', 'UserDetailExtendedText', 'UserTypeDescription') and
p.rows <> 0 and
i.OBJECT_ID > 255 AND
i.index_id <= 1
GROUP BY
t.NAME, p.[Rows]
ORDER BY
TableName
This gives me a table like this:
Then I paste this output into Excel and create a series of queries there:
A2.value reads BidCustomerXRef. C2.Value reads ="select top 1 last_modified, '" & A2 & "' as 'Table' from " & A2 & " where deleted = 'N' order by last_modified desc" and so I get
select top 1 last_modified, 'BidCustomerXRef' as 'Table'
from BidCustomerXref
where deleted = 'N'
order by last_modified desc`
So I copy all of those rows to my SQL query window and I get this:
What I want is a single table that looks like this:
TableName
last_modified
BidCustomerXRef
2022-06-21 21:30:07.287
Bids
2022-06-22 20:00:06.383
CustomerARDetail
2022-06-22 18:00:11.923
etc.

Answer 1

Here is one way you can do this. I am using the system tables to generate dynamic sql instead of using a dreaded cursor or other sort of iteration going row by agonizing row.
declare #sql nvarchar(max) = ''
select #sql += 'select TableName = ''' + s.name + '.' + t.name + ''', last_modified = (select max(last_modified) from ' + QUOTENAME(s.name) + '.' + QUOTENAME(t.name) + ' where deleted = ''N'') union all '
from sys.tables t
join sys.schemas s on s.schema_id = t.schema_id
join sys.indexes i ON t.object_id = i.object_id
join sys.partitions p ON i.object_id = p.object_id and i.index_id = p.index_id
where t.NAME NOT LIKE 'dt%'
and t.name not like '%ml%'
and t.NAME not in ('OrderHeaders', 'OrderHeaderExtendedText', 'OrderLIDetails', 'OrderLIDetailExtendedText', 'UserCustomerXRef', 'UserDetails', 'UserDetailExtendedText', 'UserTypeDescription')
and p.rows > 0
and i.object_id > 255
and i.index_id <= 1
order by t.name
select #sql = left(#sql, len(#sql) - 9) --removes the last UNION ALL
select #sql
--uncomment the line below once you have evaluated that the dynamic sql is correct
--exec sp_executesql #sql