Reference Manual
   CHAPTER 16. System Views     

Views for Transact-SQL Compatibility

Adaptive Server Enterprise and Adaptive Server Anywhere have different system catalogs, reflecting the different uses for the two products.

In Adaptive Server Enterprise, a single master database contains a set of system tables, which information that applies to all databases on the server. Many databases may exist within the master database, and each has additional system tables associated with it.

In Adaptive Server Anywhere, each database exists independently, and contains its own system tables. There is no master database that contains system information on a collection of databases. Each server may run several databases at a time, dynamically loading and unloading each database as needed.

The Adaptive Server Enterprise and Adaptive Server Anywhere system catalogs are different. The Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables and views are owned by the special user dbo, and exist partly in the master database, partly in the sybsecurity database, and partly in each individual database; the Adaptive Server Anywhere system tables and views are owned by the special user SYS and exist separately in each database.

To assist in preparing compatible applications, Adaptive Server Anywhere provides a set of views owned by the special user dbo, which correspond to the Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables and views. Where architectural differences make the contents of a particular Adaptive Server Enterprise table or view meaningless in a Adaptive Server Anywhere context, the view is empty, containing just the column names and data types.

The following tables list the Adaptive Server Enterprise system tables and their implementation in the Adaptive Server Anywhere system catalog. The owner of all tables is dbo in each DBMS.

Tables existing in each Adaptive Server Enterprise database 

Table name	Description	Data?
sysalternates	One row for each user mapped to a database user	No
syscolumns	One row for each column in a table or view, and for each parameter in a procedure	Yes
syscomments	One or more rows for each view, rule, default, trigger, and procedure, giving the SQL definition statement	Yes
sysconstraints	One row for each referential or check constraint associated with a table or column	No
sysdepends	One row for each procedure, view, or table that is referenced by a procedure, view, or trigger	No
sysindexes	One row for each clustered or nonclustered index, one row for each table with no indexes, and an additional row for each table containing text or image data.	Yes
syskeys	One row for each primary, foreign, or common key; set by the user (not maintained by Adaptive Server Enterprise)	No
syslogs	Transaction log	No
sysobjects	One row for each table, view, procedure, rule, trigger default, log, or (in tempdb only) temporary object	Contains compatible data only
sysprocedures	One row for each view, rule, default, trigger, or procedure, giving the internal definition	No
sysprotects	User permissions information	No
sysreferences	One row for each referential integrity constraint declared on a table or column	No
sysroles	Maps server-wide roles to local database groups	No
syssegments	One row for each segment (named collection of disk pieces)	No
systhresholds	One row for each threshold defined for the database	No
systypes	One row for each system-supplied or user-defined data type	Yes
sysusermessages	One row for each user-defined message	Yes (this is an Adaptive Server Anywhere system table)
sysusers	One row for each user allowed in the database	Yes

Tables existing in the Adaptive Server Enterprise master database 

Table name	Description	Data?
syscharsets	One row for each character set or sort order	No
sysconfigures	One row for each user-settable configuration parameter	No
syscurconfigs	Information about configuration parameters currently being used by the server	No
sysdatabases	One row for each database on the server	No
sysdevices	One row for each tape dump device, disk dump device, disk for databases, or disk partition for databases	No
sysengines	One row for each server currently online	No
syslanguages	One row for each language (except U.S. English) known to the server	No
syslocks	Information about active locks	No
sysloginroles	One row for each server login that possesses a system-defined role	No
syslogins	One row for each valid user account	Yes
sysmessages	One row for each system error or warning	No
sysprocesses	Information about server processes	No
sysremotelogins	One row for each remote user	No
syssrvroles	One row for each server-wide role	No
sysservers	One row for each remote server	No
sysusages	One row for each disk piece allocated to a database	No

Tables existing in the Adaptive Server Enterprise sybsecurity database 

Table name	Description	Data?
sysaudits	One row for each audit record	No
sysauditoptions	One row for each global audit option	No