Quickly Dropping Columns

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Quickly Dropping Columns

Steve Jones - SSC Editor

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Points: 736478
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September 24, 2019 at 12:00 am

#3675279

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Quickly Dropping Columns

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Sean Lange SSC Guru Points: 286590 More actions · Answer 1

Great question Steve. Really got the brain kick started this morning.

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Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736478 More actions · Answer 2

glad you liked it. I'm trying to find some more interesting questions by trolling blog posts and forums

Thomas Franz Hall of Fame Points: 3897 More actions · Answer 3

I find the answers a little bit misleading. If a column is part of another index, FK or constraint, it just can't be dropped (without dropping / changing the index, FK / contraint before), since it throws an error message.

And dropping an index, FK / contraint is usually a metadata change too (rebuilding an index to remove the unwanted column is of course not an metadata operation).

God is real, unless declared integer.

Steve Jones - SSC Editor SSC Guru Points: 736478 More actions · Answer 4

You should not be assuming this is part of anything else. If the question doesn't list it, it's not part of the scenario. This is a simple look at what a metadata operation is for a large table. If the item isn't referenced by another object, meaning it's not part of an index or other structure, it can be dropped.

Stewart "Arturius" Campbell SSC Guru Points: 72634 More actions · Answer 5

Nice question, thanks Steve

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