sp_helptext
Topic last updated -- July 2003
Prints the text of a rule, a default, or an unencrypted stored procedure, user-defined function, trigger, computed column, or view.
Syntax
sp_helptext [ @objname = ] name
[ , [ @columnname = ] computed_column_name ]
Arguments
[@objname =] name
Is the name of the object for which to display definition information. The object must be in the current database. name is nvarchar(776), with no default.
[@columnname = ] computed_column_name
Is the name of the computed column for which to display definition information. The table that contains the column must be specified as objname and must be in the current database. computed_column_name is sysname, with no default.
Return Code Values
0 (success) or 1 (failure)
Result Sets
| Column name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Text | nvarchar(255) | Object definition text |
Remarks
sp_helptext prints out the text used to create an object in multiple rows, each with 255 characters of the Transact-SQL definition. The definition resides in the text in the syscomments table of the current database only.
Permissions
Execute permissions default to the public role.
Examples
A. Display the definition of a trigger.
This example displays the text of the employee_insupd trigger, which is in the pubs database.
USE pubs
EXEC sp_helptext employee_insupd
B. Display the definition of a computed column.
This example creates the computed column discountamount on the titles table in the pubs database and displays the definition of that computed column.
USE pubs
ALTER TABLE titles ADD discountamount AS price * .15
GO
sp_helptext @objname = titles, @columnname = discountamount
GO
Here is the result set:
Text
([price] * 0.15)
