In my SQL Server backend for my app, I want to create history tables for a bunch of my key tables, which will track a history of changes to the rows.
My entire appli
Triggers.
We wrote a GUI (internally called Red Matrix Reloaded) to allow easy creation/management of audit logging triggers.
Here's some DDL of the stuff used:
CREATE TABLE [AuditLog] (
[AuditLogID] [int] IDENTITY (1, 1) NOT NULL ,
[ChangeDate] [datetime] NOT NULL CONSTRAINT [DF_AuditLog_ChangeDate] DEFAULT (getdate()),
[RowGUID] [uniqueidentifier] NOT NULL ,
[ChangeType] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NOT NULL ,
[TableName] [varchar] (128) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NOT NULL ,
[FieldName] [varchar] (128) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NOT NULL ,
[OldValue] [varchar] (8000) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL ,
[NewValue] [varchar] (8000) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL ,
[Username] [varchar] (128) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NOT NULL ,
[Hostname] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NOT NULL ,
[AppName] [varchar] (128) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL ,
[UserGUID] [uniqueidentifier] NULL ,
[TagGUID] [uniqueidentifier] NULL ,
[Tag] [varchar] (8000) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL
)
CREATE TRIGGER LogInsert_Nodes ON dbo.Nodes
FOR INSERT
AS
/* Load the saved context info UserGUID */
DECLARE @SavedUserGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @SavedUserGUID = CAST(context_info as uniqueidentifier)
FROM master.dbo.sysprocesses
WHERE spid = @@SPID
DECLARE @NullGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @NullGUID = '{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}'
IF @SavedUserGUID = @NullGUID
BEGIN
SET @SavedUserGUID = NULL
END
/*We dont' log individual field changes Old/New because the row is new.
So we only have one record - INSERTED*/
INSERT INTO AuditLog(
ChangeDate, RowGUID, ChangeType,
Username, HostName, AppName,
UserGUID,
TableName, FieldName,
TagGUID, Tag,
OldValue, NewValue)
SELECT
getdate(), --ChangeDate
i.NodeGUID, --RowGUID
'INSERTED', --ChangeType
USER_NAME(), HOST_NAME(), APP_NAME(),
@SavedUserGUID, --UserGUID
'Nodes', --TableName
'', --FieldName
i.ParentNodeGUID, --TagGUID
i.Caption, --Tag
null, --OldValue
null --NewValue
FROM Inserted i
CREATE TRIGGER LogUpdate_Nodes ON dbo.Nodes
FOR UPDATE AS
/* Load the saved context info UserGUID */
DECLARE @SavedUserGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @SavedUserGUID = CAST(context_info as uniqueidentifier)
FROM master.dbo.sysprocesses
WHERE spid = @@SPID
DECLARE @NullGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @NullGUID = '{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}'
IF @SavedUserGUID = @NullGUID
BEGIN
SET @SavedUserGUID = NULL
END
/* ParentNodeGUID uniqueidentifier */
IF UPDATE (ParentNodeGUID)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO AuditLog(
ChangeDate, RowGUID, ChangeType,
Username, HostName, AppName,
UserGUID,
TableName, FieldName,
TagGUID, Tag,
OldValue, NewValue)
SELECT
getdate(), --ChangeDate
i.NodeGUID, --RowGUID
'UPDATED', --ChangeType
USER_NAME(), HOST_NAME(), APP_NAME(),
@SavedUserGUID, --UserGUID
'Nodes', --TableName
'ParentNodeGUID', --FieldName
i.ParentNodeGUID, --TagGUID
i.Caption, --Tag
d.ParentNodeGUID, --OldValue
i.ParentNodeGUID --NewValue
FROM Inserted i
INNER JOIN Deleted d
ON i.NodeGUID = d.NodeGUID
WHERE (d.ParentNodeGUID IS NULL AND i.ParentNodeGUID IS NOT NULL)
OR (d.ParentNodeGUID IS NOT NULL AND i.ParentNodeGUID IS NULL)
OR (d.ParentNodeGUID <> i.ParentNodeGUID)
END
/* Caption varchar(255) */
IF UPDATE (Caption)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO AuditLog(
ChangeDate, RowGUID, ChangeType,
Username, HostName, AppName,
UserGUID,
TableName, FieldName,
TagGUID, Tag,
OldValue, NewValue)
SELECT
getdate(), --ChangeDate
i.NodeGUID, --RowGUID
'UPDATED', --ChangeType
USER_NAME(), HOST_NAME(), APP_NAME(),
@SavedUserGUID, --UserGUID
'Nodes', --TableName
'Caption', --FieldName
i.ParentNodeGUID, --TagGUID
i.Caption, --Tag
d.Caption, --OldValue
i.Caption --NewValue
FROM Inserted i
INNER JOIN Deleted d
ON i.NodeGUID = d.NodeGUID
WHERE (d.Caption IS NULL AND i.Caption IS NOT NULL)
OR (d.Caption IS NOT NULL AND i.Caption IS NULL)
OR (d.Caption <> i.Caption)
END
...
/* ImageGUID uniqueidentifier */
IF UPDATE (ImageGUID)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO AuditLog(
ChangeDate, RowGUID, ChangeType,
Username, HostName, AppName,
UserGUID,
TableName, FieldName,
TagGUID, Tag,
OldValue, NewValue)
SELECT
getdate(), --ChangeDate
i.NodeGUID, --RowGUID
'UPDATED', --ChangeType
USER_NAME(), HOST_NAME(), APP_NAME(),
@SavedUserGUID, --UserGUID
'Nodes', --TableName
'ImageGUID', --FieldName
i.ParentNodeGUID, --TagGUID
i.Caption, --Tag
(SELECT Caption FROM Nodes WHERE NodeGUID = d.ImageGUID), --OldValue
(SELECT Caption FROM Nodes WHERE NodeGUID = i.ImageGUID) --New Value
FROM Inserted i
INNER JOIN Deleted d
ON i.NodeGUID = d.NodeGUID
WHERE (d.ImageGUID IS NULL AND i.ImageGUID IS NOT NULL)
OR (d.ImageGUID IS NOT NULL AND i.ImageGUID IS NULL)
OR (d.ImageGUID <> i.ImageGUID)
END
CREATE TRIGGER LogDelete_Nodes ON dbo.Nodes
FOR DELETE
AS
/* Load the saved context info UserGUID */
DECLARE @SavedUserGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @SavedUserGUID = CAST(context_info as uniqueidentifier)
FROM master.dbo.sysprocesses
WHERE spid = @@SPID
DECLARE @NullGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @NullGUID = '{00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}'
IF @SavedUserGUID = @NullGUID
BEGIN
SET @SavedUserGUID = NULL
END
/*We dont' log individual field changes Old/New because the row is new.
So we only have one record - DELETED*/
INSERT INTO AuditLog(
ChangeDate, RowGUID, ChangeType,
Username, HostName, AppName,
UserGUID,
TableName, FieldName,
TagGUID, Tag,
OldValue,NewValue)
SELECT
getdate(), --ChangeDate
d.NodeGUID, --RowGUID
'DELETED', --ChangeType
USER_NAME(), HOST_NAME(), APP_NAME(),
@SavedUserGUID, --UserGUID
'Nodes', --TableName
'', --FieldName
d.ParentNodeGUID, --TagGUID
d.Caption, --Tag
null, --OldValue
null --NewValue
FROM Deleted d
And in order to know which user in the software did the update, every connection "logs itself onto SQL Server" by calling a stored procedure:
CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.SaveContextUserGUID @UserGUID uniqueidentifier AS
/* Saves the given UserGUID as the session's "Context Information" */
IF @UserGUID IS NULL
BEGIN
PRINT 'Emptying CONTEXT_INFO because of null @UserGUID'
DECLARE @BinVar varbinary(128)
SET @BinVar = CAST( REPLICATE( 0x00, 128 ) AS varbinary(128) )
SET CONTEXT_INFO @BinVar
RETURN 0
END
DECLARE @UserGUIDBinary binary(16) --a guid is 16 bytes
SELECT @UserGUIDBinary = CAST(@UserGUID as binary(16))
SET CONTEXT_INFO @UserGUIDBinary
/* To load the guid back
DECLARE @SavedUserGUID uniqueidentifier
SELECT @SavedUserGUID = CAST(context_info as uniqueidentifier)
FROM master.dbo.sysprocesses
WHERE spid = @@SPID
select @SavedUserGUID AS UserGUID
*/
Notes
sometimes the "OldValue" and "NewValue" values are written as a sub-select - to get a meaningful string. i.e."
OldValue: {233d-ad34234..} NewValue: {883-sdf34...}
is less useful in the audit trail than:
OldValue: Daimler Chrysler
NewValue: Cerberus Capital Management
Final note: Feel free to not do what we do. This is great for us, but everyone else is free to not use it.
Triggers. Right now you might be able to say that the only way data is updated is through your SPs, but things can change or you might need to do a mass insert/update that using the SPs will be too cumbersome for. Go with triggers.
in SQL server 2008 a new feature called CDC (Change data Capture) CDC on MSDN can help. CDC is an ability to record changes to table data into another table without writing triggers or some other mechanism, Change data capture records the changes like insert, update, and delete to a table in SQL server thus making the details of the changes available in relational format.
Channel9 video
Recommended approach depends on your requirements. If the history table is there for audit trail, you need to capture each operation. If history table is only for performance reasons, then a scheduled SQL Agent data transfer job should be enough.
For capturing each operation use either AFTER TRIGGERs or Change Data Capture.
After triggers provide you with two temp tables to operate with inside the trigger:
You can perform inserts to the history table from these temp tables and your history table will always be up-to-date. You might want to add version numbering, time stamps or both in the history table to separate changes to a single source row.
Change Data Capture (CDC) is designed for creating a delta table that you can use as a source for loading data into a data warehouse (or a history table). Unlike triggers, CDC is asynchronous and you can use any method and scheduling for populating your destination (sprocs, SSIS).
You can access both original data and changes with CDC. Change Tracking (CT) only detects changed rows. It is possible to construct a complete audit trail with CDC but not with CT. CDC and CT are both only available in the MSSQL 2008 Enterprise and Developer Editions.
As everyone else said, Triggers. They are easier to unit test and far more resilient to power users with unexpected access directly to the tables making random queries.
As for faster? Determining what is fast inside a database is a hard problem with large number of variables. Short of "try it both ways and compare" you are not going to get a useful answer to which method is faster. The variables include the size of the tables involved, the normal pattern of updates, the speed of the disks in the server, the amount of memory, the amount of memory devoted to caching, etc. This list is endless and each variable affects whether triggers are faster than custom SQL inside the SP.
Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two. Triggers are Good in terms of integrity and probably Cheap in terms of maintenance. Arguably they are also Fast in that once they work, you are done with them. SPs are a maintenance issue and pushing stuff into maintenance can be Fast, but is never Good or Cheap.
Good Luck.
It depends on the nature of the application and the table structure, number of indexes, data size, etc, foreign keys, etc. If these are relatively simple tables (no or few indexes like indexes on datetime/integer columns) with a limited data set (< 1 Million rows), you will probably be ok to use triggers.
Keep in mind that triggers can be the source of locking issues. I would assume that if your are using the history tables as a type of audit trail you will be indexing them for future reference. If the trigger updates the history table which is slow to insert/update/delete due to the indexes, the procedure call will block until the trigger finishes. Also, if there are any foreign key constraints that will be updated in the trigger, this could also hamper performance.
In this case it all depends on the table indexes. We use Sql Server 2000 for a 24/7 app that processes over 100K financial transactions per day. The largest/main table has over 100Million rows and 15 indexes (mass deletes are not reasonably possible if uptime is desired). Even though all SQL is done in Stored Procedures, we do not use triggers or foreign keys because of the performance hit.