Get table date using sysobjects and syscolumns. Quick?

All my online research has told me how to get info about a table field's data using the system tables, but I can't find anything that tells how to get that table field's data specifically. Could be that it's difficult to explain so difficult to search on but I know there has to be a way to do this and it can't be that difficult.

How do I use the system tables sysobjects and syscolumns to give me the data from a specific field in a third table?

Basically I don't want to know the field type for a tables field, I want to know that field's value.

Let's say I have a table called tblCompanies and that table has 4 fields. idCompany, companyName, companyState, and companyCountry.

How can I return the value as a command parameter for any one of the 4 fields using sysobjects and syscolumns?

If I were writing dynamic SQL I would do something like this:

set @.valueToReturn = exec ('select ' + @.fieldNameToReturn + ' from ' + @.tableToSearch + ' where ' + @.fieldToMatchOn + ' = ' + @.valueToMatchOn)

But I don't want to use dynamic SQL, I want to use the existing system tables to write a straightforward query. My nonfunctioning/English version of this would be:

give me the value for the field name I send in as a string (@.fieldNameToReturn)
from the table I send in as a string (@.tblToSearch)
where (sysobjects.name = @.tblToSearch) and (syscolumns.name = @.fieldNameToReturn) and (@.tblToSearch.@.fieldnameToMatchOn = @.valueToMatchAgainst)

I'm using sysobjects and syscolumns because that's where I can use my variables for table name and column name to link. I just can't figure out how to get hold of my actual data table and the values in it.

Does that make any sense to anyone? I'm sure someone has had to want something like this.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!you can't do this kind of thing unless you use dynamic sql.

http://www.sommarskog.se/dynamic_sql.html

get record with earliest datetime value

Hello all,

Quick sql syntax question:

I have this table:

if exists (select * from dbo.sysobjects where id = object_id(N'[dbo].
[REQUESTS]') and OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsUserTable') = 1)
drop table [dbo].[REQUESTS]
GO

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[REQUESTS] (
[ROW_ID] [uniqueidentifier] NULL ,
[REQUEST_DATE] [datetime] NULL ,
[STATUS] [tinyint] NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO

with these values:

insert into REQUESTS (REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (getdate(), 0)
insert into REQUESTS (REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (getdate(), 1)
insert into REQUESTS (REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (getdate(), 0)

I need to select the single record with a STATUS = 0 with the earliest
REQUEST_DATE

I am using this query:
SELECT TOP 1 ROW_ID FROM REQUEST_LOG WHERE STATUS = 0 ORDER BY
REQUEST_DATE

not sure if this is the way to go...

pointer appreciated
thanksHow about doing this:
1: Change Row_ID from NULL to NOT NULL
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[REQUESTS] (
[ROW_ID] [uniqueidentifier] NOT NULL ,
[REQUEST_DATE] [datetime] NULL ,
[STATUS] [tinyint] NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO

2: Add value for column ROW_ID in INSERT:
insert into REQUESTS (ROW_ID, REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (NEWID(), getdate(), 0)
insert into REQUESTS (ROW_ID, REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (NEWID(), getdate(), 1)
insert into REQUESTS (ROW_ID, REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (NEWID(), getdate(), 0)

3: Use correct table name in SELECT - from REQUEST_LOG to REQUESTS
SELECT TOP 1 ROW_ID FROM REQUESTs WHERE STATUS = 0 ORDER BY
REQUEST_DATE

On Feb 9, 9:59 am, "hharry" <paulquig...@.nyc.comwrote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by

Hello all,
>
Quick sql syntax question:
>
I have this table:
>
if exists (select * from dbo.sysobjects where id = object_id(N'[dbo].
[REQUESTS]') and OBJECTPROPERTY(id, N'IsUserTable') = 1)
drop table [dbo].[REQUESTS]
GO
>
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[REQUESTS] (
[ROW_ID] [uniqueidentifier] NULL ,
[REQUEST_DATE] [datetime] NULL ,
[STATUS] [tinyint] NULL
) ON [PRIMARY]
GO
>
with these values:
>
insert into REQUESTS (REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (getdate(), 0)
insert into REQUESTS (REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (getdate(), 1)
insert into REQUESTS (REQUEST_DATE, STATUS)
values (getdate(), 0)
>
I need to select the single record with a STATUS = 0 with the earliest
REQUEST_DATE
>
I am using this query:
SELECT TOP 1 ROW_ID FROM REQUEST_LOG WHERE STATUS = 0 ORDER BY
REQUEST_DATE
>
not sure if this is the way to go...
>
pointer appreciated
thanks

|||apologies for the typos

what i should have asked is this:

Is TOP applied after the ORDER BY or before...can someone confirm
this ?|||Yes, TOP is applied after the result set rows are ordered with ORDER BY.

Regards,

Plamen Ratchev
http://www.SQLStudio.com

Get Modified datetime of an DB Object in SQL-Server 2000

Hi Wizzies,
Plz help me with this one. I know that I can get the CREATION datetime of a database object from "crdate" column of sysobjects table. Same way, is there anything in SQL-Server 2000 for fetching MODIFIED datetime of a database object?Not that I know of. In the past I've run nightly jobs against the database that compare current stored procedure CHECKSUM values against previous values to see if any were changed.

blindman