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sp_help_alert (Transact-SQL)

  • Article

Applies to: SQL Server

Reports information about the alerts defined for the server.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_help_alert
    [ [ @alert_name = ] N'alert_name' ]
    [ , [ @order_by = ] N'order_by' ]
    [ , [ @alert_id = ] alert_id ]
    [ , [ @category_name = ] N'category_name' ]
    [ , [ @legacy_format = ] legacy_format ]
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @alert_name = ] N'alert_name'

The alert name. @alert_name is sysname, with a default of NULL. If @alert_name isn't specified, information about all alerts is returned.

[ @order_by = ] N'order_by'

The sorting order to use for producing the results. @order_by is sysname, with a default of the @alert_name.

[ @alert_id = ] alert_id

The identification number of the alert to report information about. @alert_id is int, with a default of NULL.

[ @category_name = ] N'category_name'

The category for the alert. @category_name is sysname, with a default of NULL.

[ @legacy_format = ] legacy_format

Specifies whether to produce a legacy result set. @legacy_format is bit, with a default of 0. When @legacy_format is 1, sp_help_alert returns the result set returned by sp_help_alert in SQL Server 2000 (8.x).

Return code values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Result set

This table only shows the output when @legacy_format is 0, for SQL Server 2005 (9.x) and later versions.

Column name Data type Description
id int System-assigned unique integer identifier.
name sysname Alert name (for example, Demo: Full msdb log).
event_source nvarchar(100) Source of the event.
event_category_id int Identified for informational purposes only. Not supported. Future compatibility is not guaranteed.
event_id int Identified for informational purposes only. Not supported. Future compatibility is not guaranteed.
message_id int Message error number that defines the alert. (Usually corresponds to an error number in the sysmessages table). If severity is used to define the alert, message_id is 0 or NULL.
severity int Severity level (from 9 through 25, 110, 120, 130, or 140) that defines the alert.
enabled tinyint Status of whether the alert is currently enabled (1) or not (0). A nonenabled alert isn't sent.
delay_between_responses int Wait period, in seconds, between responses to the alert.
last_occurrence_date int Data the alert last occurred.
last_occurrence_time int Time the alert last occurred.
last_response_date int Date the alert was last responded to by the SQL Server Agent service.
last_response_time int Time the alert was last responded to by the SQL Server Agent service.
notification_message nvarchar(512) Optional additional message sent to the operator as part of the e-mail or pager notification.
include_event_description tinyint Is whether the description of the SQL Server error from the Microsoft Windows application log should be included as part of the notification message.
database_name sysname Database in which the error must occur for the alert to fire. If the database name is NULL, the alert fires regardless of where the error occurred.
event_description_keyword nvarchar(100) Description of the SQL Server error in the Windows application log that must be like the supplied sequence of characters.
occurrence_count int Number of times the alert occurred.
count_reset_date int Date the occurrence_count was last reset.
count_reset_time int Time the occurrence_count was last reset.
job_id uniqueidentifier Identification number of the job to be executed in response to an alert.
job_name sysname Name of the job to be executed in response to an alert.
has_notification int Nonzero if one or more operators are notified for this alert. The value is one or more of the following values (ORed together):

1 = has e-mail notification
2 = has pager notification
4 = has net send notification.
flags int Identified for informational purposes only. Not supported. Future compatibility is not guaranteed.
performance_condition nvarchar(512) If type is 2, this column shows the definition of the performance condition; otherwise, the column is NULL.
category_name sysname Identified for informational purposes only. Not supported. Future compatibility is not guaranteed. Will always be [Uncategorized] for SQL Server 7.0.
wmi_namespace sysname If type is 3, this column shows the namespace for the WMI event.
wmi_query nvarchar(512) If type is 3, this column shows the query for the WMI event.
type int Type of the event:

1 = SQL Server event alert
2 = SQL Server performance alert
3 = WMI event alert

Remarks

sp_help_alert must be run from the msdb database.

Permissions

You can grant EXECUTE permissions on this procedure, but these permissions might be overridden during a SQL Server upgrade.

Other users must be granted one of the following SQL Server Agent fixed database roles in the msdb database:

  • SQLAgentUserRole
  • SQLAgentReaderRole
  • SQLAgentOperatorRole

For details about the permissions of these roles, see SQL Server Agent Fixed Database Roles.

Examples

The following example reports information about the Demo: Sev. 25 Errors alert.

USE msdb;
GO

EXEC sp_help_alert @alert_name = 'Demo: Sev. 25 Errors';
GO

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