Stepping through the code using SQL 2008 shows that sp_helpdistributor has a "feature" where it will return nothing if it doesn't find an entry in MSdistpublishers, even if it does...

The link is from SQL Server 2008 R2, but you should find this under a similar path in books on line: SQL Server Installation > Installing SQL Server > Installation...

Yes, that is exactly what we do now. We Call sp_add_jobstep with @command = N'EXECUTE master.dbo.xp_sqlmaint N''-D ' + DB_NAME (DB_ID ()) + ' -WriteHistory -VrfyBackup -BkUpOnlyIfClean -CkDB -BkUpMedia...

Muti-part naming works, but only if you submit it in single quotes, i.e.

sp_refreshview '[tms].[v_DB_ID]'

Not sure about catching errors, but as far as running it under SQL 2005 (and 2008), you can substitute "sqlcmd" for "osql". Of course "osql" still works for now...

Replying to my own post just FYI.

The workaround for the bug (which appeared in SQL 2008) is to update the entries in the SYSARTICLES table directly, looking for a pattern...

Yup, use them extensively. The biggest pitfall encountered so far is a bug introduced in SQL 2008 that causes non-dbo schema procedures to be created with a prefix of...

Noel,

I think we are saying the same thing, but not understanding each other.

I assumed that the LogReader agent would "break" the transaction boundary and bundle no more than 10000 commands...

Good assumption (I think). There is no sysmergearticles in the database in question.

Customer had "piggybacked" some replication of an unknown nature on our delivered system that uses transactional replication....

Don't know enough to truly answer the question, but..

IF the entire database (all objects) is identical in structure, and IF all the tables are fully published, then you could:

1)...

The most likely cause is (because you only replicate inserts), a primary key value was updated or deleted on the primary, then the "free" key value was reused by an...

You stated " enabled this option by typeing this command -MaxCmdsInTran 10000 at log reader and distribution agent job parameters after -continuous".

There is no MaxCmdsInTran parameter documented for the distribution...

Nope, not in sysarticles. If you try to drop it anyway, you get error "The article...does not exist".

Any other ideas?

Yup, I know it is old, but I found it trying to figure out how to find instances on my desktop. It led me to figure out where in...

The example will find all instances for a 32 bit host, or for a 64 bit host with only 64 bit instances, BUT...

To list the 32 bit instances that may...