How to rebuild view in SQL Server 2008 - sql

Question

There is a view in my DB that someone defined with a * from one table. I just added a new column to that table and I want the view to reflect the new column. Besides re-executing the view creation script, is there another way to rebuild the view? I am looking for something similar to how sp_recompile will recompile a stored procedure (or more accurately flag it to be compiled next time it is called).
Update: On a long shot I tried calling sp_recompile on the view and while the call worked, it didn't rebuild the view.
Update 2: I would like to be able to do this from a script. So the script that adds the columns to the table could also update the view. So like I said, something similar to sp_recompile.

Answer 1

I believe what you're looking for is
sp_refreshview [ #viewname = ] 'viewname'
Updates the metadata for the specified
non-schema-bound view. Persistent
metadata for a view can become
outdated because of changes to the
underlying objects upon which the view
depends.
See Microsoft Docs

Answer 2

In order to rebuild all views of a SQL Server database, you could use the following script:
DECLARE #view_name AS NVARCHAR(500);
DECLARE views_cursor CURSOR FOR
SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' +TABLE_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'VIEW'
AND OBJECTPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(TABLE_NAME), 'IsMsShipped') = 0
ORDER BY TABLE_SCHEMA,TABLE_NAME
OPEN views_cursor
FETCH NEXT FROM views_cursor
INTO #view_name
WHILE (##FETCH_STATUS <> -1)
BEGIN
BEGIN TRY
EXEC sp_refreshview #view_name;
PRINT #view_name;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
PRINT 'Error during refreshing view "' + #view_name + '".';
END CATCH;
FETCH NEXT FROM views_cursor
INTO #view_name
END
CLOSE views_cursor;
DEALLOCATE views_cursor;
This is a slightly modified version from this blog posting. It uses the sp_refreshview stored procedure, too.

Answer 3

As well as Cory's answer, you could define it properly using schemabinding and the full column list.
CREATE VIEW MyView
WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
SELECT
col1, col2, col3, ..., coln
FROM
MyTable
GO

Answer 4

Slightly modified script that refreshes all views, calls sp_recompile, sp_refresh and gets list from sys.views:
DECLARE #view_name AS NVARCHAR(500);
DECLARE views_cursor CURSOR FOR SELECT DISTINCT name from sys.views
OPEN views_cursor
FETCH NEXT FROM views_cursor
INTO #view_name
WHILE (##FETCH_STATUS <> -1)
BEGIN
BEGIN TRY
EXEC sp_recompile #view_name;
EXEC sp_refreshview #view_name;
PRINT #view_name;
END TRY
BEGIN CATCH
PRINT 'Error during refreshing view "' + #view_name + '".';
END CATCH;
FETCH NEXT FROM views_cursor
INTO #view_name
END
CLOSE views_cursor;
DEALLOCATE views_cursor;

Answer 5

sp_refreshview does not seem to be relyable! When I used the code from Uwe Keim/BogdanRB I got many errors even if the view has no invalid references! The following code did the trick for me (to determine which view is invalid after schema changes):
DECLARE #view_name AS NVARCHAR(500);
DECLARE #Query AS NVARCHAR(600);
SET #Query = '';
DECLARE views_cursor CURSOR FOR SELECT DISTINCT ('[' + SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id) + '].[' + name + ']') AS Name FROM sys.views
OPEN views_cursor
FETCH NEXT FROM views_cursor
INTO #view_name
WHILE (##FETCH_STATUS <> -1)
BEGIN
EXEC sp_recompile #view_name;
SELECT #Query = 'SELECT ''' + #view_name + ''' AS Name, COUNT(*) FROM ' + #view_name + ' AS Count; ';
EXEC (#Query);
-- PRINT #view_name;
FETCH NEXT FROM views_cursor
INTO #view_name
END
CLOSE views_cursor;
DEALLOCATE views_cursor;

Answer 6

Here is my favorite script for this (I modified an old sp_exec checking script I had), it uses EXEC sp_refreshsqlmodule #name
SET NOCOUNT ON;
-- Set ViewOnly to 1 to view missing EXECUTES. Set to 0 to correct missing EXECUTEs
DECLARE
#ViewOnly INT; SET #ViewOnly = 0;
-- Role to set execute permission on.
DECLARE
#ROLE sysname ; set #ROLE = QUOTENAME('spexec');
DECLARE
#ID INT,
#LAST_ID INT,
#NAME NVARCHAR(2000),
#SQL NVARCHAR(2000);
DECLARE #Permission TABLE (
id INT IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
spName NVARCHAR(2000),
object_type NVARCHAR(2000),
roleName NVARCHAR(2000),
permission NVARCHAR(2000),
state NVARCHAR(2000)
)
--Initialise the loop variable
SET #LAST_ID = 0
--Get all the stored procs into a temp table.
WHILE #LAST_ID IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
-- Get next lowest value
SELECT #ID = MIN(object_id)
FROM sys.objects
WHERE object_id > #LAST_ID
-- Looking for Stored Procs, Scalar, Table and Inline Functions
AND type IN ('P','FN','IF','TF','AF','FS','FT','PC', 'V')
SET #LAST_ID = #ID
IF #ID IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #Permission
SELECT o.name,
o.type_desc,
r.name,
p.permission_name,
p.state_desc
FROM sys.objects AS o
LEFT outer JOIN sys.database_permissions AS p
ON p.major_id = o.object_id
LEFT OUTER join sys.database_principals r
ON p.grantee_principal_id = r.principal_id
WHERE o.object_id = #ID
AND o.type IN ('P','FN','IF','TF','AF','FS','FT','PC', 'V')
--Exclude special stored procs, which start with dt_...
AND NOT o.name LIKE 'dt_%'
AND NOT o.name LIKE 'sp_%'
AND NOT o.name LIKE 'fn_%'
END
END
--GRANT the Permissions, only if the viewonly is off.
IF ISNULL(#ViewOnly,0) = 0
BEGIN
--Initialise the loop variable
SET #LAST_ID = 0
WHILE #LAST_ID IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
-- Get next lowest value
SELECT #ID = MIN(id)
FROM #Permission
WHERE roleName IS NULL
AND id > #LAST_ID
SET #LAST_ID = #ID
IF #ID IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
SELECT #NAME = spName
FROM #Permission
WHERE id = #ID
PRINT 'EXEC sp_refreshsqlmodule ' + #NAME
-- Build the DCL to do the GRANT
SET #SQL = 'sp_refreshsqlmodule [' + #NAME + ']'
-- Run the SQL Statement you just generated
EXEC (#SQL)
END
END
--Reselect the now changed permissions
SELECT o.name,
o.type_desc,
r.name,
p.permission_name,
p.state_desc
FROM sys.objects AS o
LEFT outer JOIN sys.database_permissions AS p
ON p.major_id = o.object_id
LEFT OUTER join sys.database_principals r
ON p.grantee_principal_id = r.principal_id
WHERE o.type IN ('P','FN','IF','TF','AF','FS','FT','PC', 'V')
AND NOT o.name LIKE 'dt_%'
AND NOT o.name LIKE 'sp_%'
AND NOT o.name LIKE 'fn_%'
ORDER BY o.name
END
ELSE
BEGIN
--ViewOnly: select the stored procs which need EXECUTE permission.
SELECT *
FROM #Permission
WHERE roleName IS NULL
END

Answer 7

Right-click on the view and choose Refresh from the popup menu?

Answer 8

You can use this sp:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.RefreshViews
#dbName nvarchar(100) = null
AS
BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
DECLARE #p nvarchar(250) = '#sql nvarchar(max) out'
DECLARE #q nvarchar(1000)
DECLARE #sql nvarchar(max)
if #dbName is null
select #dbName = DB_NAME()
SELECT #q = 'SELECT #sql = COALESCE(#sql + '' '', '''') + ''EXEC sp_refreshview ''''[' + #dbName + '].['' + TABLE_SCHEMA + ''].['' + TABLE_NAME + '']'''';''
FROM [' + #dbName + '].INFORMATION_SCHEMA.Views '
EXEC sp_executesql #q , #p ,#sql out
EXEC sp_executesql #sql
END
GO