sp_fulltext_table (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure Synapse Analytics
Marks or unmarks a table for full-text indexing.
Important
This feature will be removed in a future version of SQL Server. Avoid using this feature in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use this feature. Use CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX, ALTER FULLTEXT INDEX, and DROP FULLTEXT INDEX instead.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
sp_fulltext_table
[ @tabname = ] N'tabname'
, [ @action = ] 'action'
[ , [ @ftcat = ] N'ftcat' ]
[ , [ @keyname = ] N'keyname' ]
[ ; ]
Arguments
[ @tabname = ] N'tabname'
A one-part or two-part table name. The table must exist in the current database. @tabname is nvarchar(517), with no default.
[ @action = ] 'action'
The action to be performed. @action is nvarchar(50), with no default, and can be one of these values.
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Creates the metadata for a full-text index for the table referenced by @tabname and specifies that the full-text index data for this table should reside in @ftcat. This action also designates the use of @keyname as the full-text key column. This unique index must already be present and must be defined on one column of the table. A full-text search can't be performed against this table until the full-text catalog is populated. |
| Drop | Drops the metadata on the full-text index for @tabname. If the full-text index is active, it's automatically deactivated before being dropped. It isn't necessary to remove columns before dropping the full-text index. |
| Activate | Activates the ability for full-text index data to be gathered for @tabname, after it's been deactivated. There must be at least one column participating in the full-text index before it can be activated. A full-text index is automatically made active (for population) as soon as the first column is added for indexing. If the last column is dropped from the index, the index becomes inactive. If change tracking is on, activating an inactive index starts a new population. This doesn't actually populate the full-text index, but simply registers the table in the full-text catalog in the file system so that rows from @tabname can be retrieved during the next full-text index population. |
| Deactivate | Deactivates the full-text index for @tabname so that full-text index data can no longer be gathered for the @tabname. The full-text index metadata remains and the table can be reactivated. If change tracking is on, deactivating an active index freezes the state of the index: any ongoing population is stopped, and no more changes are propagated to the index. |
| start_change_tracking | Start an incremental population of the full-text index. If the table doesn't have a timestamp, start a full population of the full-text index. Start tracking changes to the table. Full-text change tracking doesn't track any WRITETEXT or UPDATETEXT operations performed on full-text indexed columns that are of type image, text, or ntext. |
| stop_change_tracking | Stop tracking changes to the table. |
| update_index | Propagate the current set of tracked changes to the full-text index. |
| start_background_updateindex | Start propagating tracked changes to the full-text index as they occur. |
| stop_background_updateindex | Stop propagating tracked changes to the full-text index as they occur. |
| start_full | Start a full population of the full-text index for the table. |
| start_incremental | Start an incremental population of the full-text index for the table. |
| Stop | Stop a full or incremental population. |
[ @ftcat = ] N'ftcat'
A valid, existing full-text catalog name for a create action. For all other actions, this parameter must be NULL. @ftcat is sysname, with a default of NULL.
[ @keyname = ] N'keyname'
A valid single-key-column, unique non-nullable index on @tabname for a create action. For all other actions, this parameter must be NULL. @keyname is sysname, with a default of NULL.
Return code values
0 (success) or 1 (failure).
Result set
None.
Remarks
After a full-text index is deactivated for a particular table, the existing full-text index remains in place until the next full population; however, this index isn't used because SQL Server blocks queries on deactivated tables.
If the table is reactivated and the index isn't repopulated, the old index is still available for queries against any remaining, but not new, full-text enabled columns. Data from deleted columns are matched in queries that specify an all-full-text column search.
After a table has been defined for full-text indexing, switching the full-text unique key column from one data type to another, either by changing the data type of that column or changing the full-text unique key from one column to another, without a full repopulation might cause a failure to occur during a subsequent query and returning the error message:
Conversion to type data_type failed for full-text search key value key_value.
To prevent this error, drop the full-text definition for this table using the drop action of sp_fulltext_table and redefine it using sp_fulltext_table and sp_fulltext_column.
The full-text key column must be defined to be 900 bytes or less. It's recommended that the size of the key column is as small as possible for performance reasons.
Permissions
Only members of the sysadmin fixed server role, db_owner and db_ddladmin fixed database roles, or a user with reference permissions on the full-text catalog can execute sp_fulltext_table.
Examples
A. Enable a table for full-text indexing
The following example creates full-text index metadata for the Document table of the AdventureWorks database. Cat_Desc is a full-text catalog. PK_Document_DocumentID is a unique, single-column index on Document.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_table 'Production.Document',
'create',
'Cat_Desc',
'PK_Document_DocumentID';
--Add some columns
EXEC sp_fulltext_column 'Production.Document',
'DocumentSummary',
'add';
-- Activate the full-text index
EXEC sp_fulltext_table 'Production.Document',
'activate';
GO
B. Activate and propagating track changes
The following example activates and starts propagating tracked changes to the full-text index as they occur.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_table 'Production.Document', 'Start_change_tracking';
EXEC sp_fulltext_table 'Production.Document', 'Start_background_updateindex';
GO
C. Remove a full-text index
This example removes the full-text index metadata for the Document table of the AdventureWorks database.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_table 'Production.Document', 'drop';
GO