sql 2005 force table rename that has dependencies

Question

How do you force a rename???

Rename failed for Table \'dbo.x. (Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo)

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?ProdName=Microsoft+

Answer 1

Try this:

/*  
    Example 1: Rename a table dbo.MyTable -> dbo.YourTable
    EXEC dbo.USP_DROP_ENFORCED_DEPENDENCIES @SchemaName=N'dbo', @EntityName=N'MyTable', @Debug=1;
    EXEC sp_rename N'dbo.MyTable', N'YourTable', N'OBJECT'

    Example 2: Rename a column dbo.MyTable.MyColumn -> dbo.MyTable.YourColumn
    EXEC dbo.USP_DROP_ENFORCED_DEPENDENCIES @SchemaName=N'dbo', @EntityName=N'MyTable', @ColumnName=N'MyColumn' @Debug=1;
    EXEC sp_rename N'dbo.MyTable.MyColumn', N'YourColumn', N'COLUMN'

*/
CREATE Procedure dbo.USP_DROP_ENFORCED_DEPENDENCIES
(
    @SchemaName sysname = 'dbo',
    @EntityName sysname,
    @ColumnName sysname = NULL,
    @Debug      bit = 0
)
AS
BEGIN
    SET NOCOUNT ON;
    SET ROWCOUNT 0;

    DECLARE @ReferencingEntitySchema sysname, @ReferencingEntityName sysname, @ReferencingEntityType nvarchar(8), @SqlScript nvarchar(512);

    DECLARE ReferencingEntitiesCursor CURSOR LOCAL FORWARD_ONLY 
    FOR 
        SELECT OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(dep.referencing_id) AS [schema]
              ,referencing_entity.name
              ,CASE referencing_entity.type 
                   WHEN 'V' THEN N'VIEW'
                   ELSE /*IF, FN, TF*/ N'FUNCTION'
               END as [type]
        FROM sys.sql_expression_dependencies AS dep
            INNER JOIN sys.objects AS referencing_entity 
                ON dep.referencing_id = referencing_entity.object_id
        WHERE dep.referenced_entity_name = @EntityName 
              AND dep.referenced_schema_name = @SchemaName 
              AND is_schema_bound_reference = 1
              AND ((@ColumnName IS NULL AND dep.referenced_minor_id = 0) OR COL_NAME(dep.referenced_id, dep.referenced_minor_id) = @ColumnName)
    OPEN ReferencingEntitiesCursor

    FETCH NEXT FROM ReferencingEntitiesCursor
    INTO @ReferencingEntitySchema, @ReferencingEntityName, @ReferencingEntityType;

    WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
    BEGIN
        EXEC dbo.USP_DROP_ENFORCED_DEPENDENCIES @SchemaName=@ReferencingEntitySchema, @EntityName=@ReferencingEntityName, @Debug=@Debug;
        --The goal is to produce the following script:
        /*
        DROP FUNCTION dbo.UFN_SOME_FUNCTION;
        OR
        DROP VIEW dbo.UFN_SOME_VIEW;
        */
        SET @SqlScript = N'DROP ' + @ReferencingEntityType + N' ' + @ReferencingEntitySchema + '.' + @ReferencingEntityName;
        IF(@Debug = 1)
            RAISERROR (@SqlScript, 0/*severity*/, 0/*state*/) WITH NOWAIT;
        EXEC (@SqlScript);

        FETCH NEXT FROM ReferencingEntitiesCursor
        INTO @ReferencingEntitySchema, @ReferencingEntityName, @ReferencingEntityType;
    END

    CLOSE ReferencingEntitiesCursor;
    DEALLOCATE ReferencingEntitiesCursor;       
END
GO

Answer 2

I had an issue like this. I dropped constraints on this DB object, renamed the DB object then recreated these constraints. This solved my problem.

Answer 3

I had the same issue , my problem was that i has a COMPUTED FIELD using the column i was trying to rename.

by running the query from the selected answer i was able to tell that had enforced dependencies, but i was not able to see exactly what was the problem

Answer 4

Find the "enforced dependencies", then remove or disable them.

By "enforced dependencies", it means Schema binding, so you'll have to look specifically for that.

Here's a query to look for schema binding references to your object:

select o.name as ObjName, r.name as ReferencedObj
from sys.sql_dependencies d
join sys.objects o on o.object_id=d.object_id
join sys.objects r on r.object_id=d.referenced_major_id
where d.class=1
AND r.name = @YourObjectName

As I noted in the comments, there is no way to FORCE-ibly override Schema Binding. When you use Schema Binding, you are explicitly saying "Do not let me or anyone else override this." The only way around Schema Binding is to undo it, and that's intentional.

Answer 5

In the SQL Server Object Browser, right-click on the table with the issue and select View Dependencies. Next in the view listed, Right-click (view) and select SCRIPT to CREATE VIEW in New SQL Query Editor window, then remove WITH SCHEMABINDING from the CREATE VIEW t-sql script and run the revised CREATE VIEW t-sql. This unlinks the schema dependency from the table. I was able to recreate the table at this point (DROP, RENAME, etc).

Note:

Schema binding can occur on functions and other objects in your db. Use of View Dependencies on the object throwing the error is essential to fix the issue.

BTW:

I originally added schema binding to enable view indexing. Keeping a good index on the underlying table(s) may mitigate the performance hit of not having one on the view.

1. View Dependencies
2. More on Schema Binding