sp_fulltext_catalog (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Creates and drops a full-text catalog, and starts and stops the indexing action for a catalog. Multiple full-text catalogs can be created for each database.
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 CATALOG, ALTER FULLTEXT CATALOG, and DROP FULLTEXT CATALOG instead.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
sp_fulltext_catalog
[ @ftcat = ] N'ftcat'
, [ @action = ] 'action'
[ , [ @path = ] N'path' ]
[ ; ]
Arguments
[ @ftcat = ] N'ftcat'
The name of the full-text catalog. Catalog names must be unique for each database. @ftcat is sysname, with no default.
[ @action = ] 'action'
The action to be performed. @action is varchar(20), and can be one of these values.
Note
Full-text catalogs can be created, dropped, and modified as needed. However, avoid making schema changes on multiple catalogs at the same time. These actions can be performed using the sp_fulltext_table stored procedure, which is the recommended way.
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| create | Creates an empty, new full-text catalog in the file system and adds an associated row in sysfulltextcatalogs with the @ftcat and @path, if present, values. @ftcat must be unique within the database. |
| drop | Drops @ftcat by removing it from the file system and deleting the associated row in sysfulltextcatalogs. This action fails if this catalog contains indexes for one or more tables. sp_fulltext_table '<table_name>', 'drop' should be executed to drop the tables from the catalog.An error is displayed if the catalog doesn't exist. |
| start_incremental | Starts an incremental population for @ftcat. An error is displayed if the catalog doesn't exist. If a full-text index population is already active, a warning is displayed but no population action occurs. With incremental population only changed rows are retrieved for full-text indexing, provided there's a timestamp column present in the table being full-text indexed. |
| start_full | Starts a full population for @ftcat. Every row of every table associated with this full-text catalog is retrieved for full-text indexing even if they have already been indexed. |
| stop | Stops an index population for @ftcat. An error is displayed if the catalog doesn't exist. No warning is displayed if population is already stopped. |
| rebuild | Rebuilds @ftcat. When a catalog is rebuilt, the existing catalog is deleted and a new catalog is created in its place. All the tables that have full-text indexing references are associated with the new catalog. Rebuilding resets the full-text metadata in the database system tables. If change tracking is OFF, rebuilding doesn't cause a repopulation of the newly created full-text catalog. In this case, to repopulate, execute sp_fulltext_catalog with the start_full or start_incremental action. |
[ @path = ] N'path'
The root directory (not the complete physical path) for a create action. @path is nvarchar(100), with a default of NULL, which indicates the use of the default location specified at setup.
This is the FTData subdirectory in the MSSQL directory; for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\FTData. The specified root directory must reside on a drive on the same computer, consist of more than just the drive letter, and can't be a relative path. Network drives, removable drives, floppy disks, and UNC paths aren't supported. Full-text catalogs must be created on a local hard drive associated with an instance of SQL Server.
@path is valid only when @action is create. For actions other than create (stop, rebuild, and so on), @path must be NULL or omitted.
If the instance of SQL Server is a virtual server in a cluster, the catalog directory specified needs to be on a shared disk drive on which the SQL Server resource depends. If @path isn't specified, the location of default catalog directory is on the shared disk drive, in the directory that was specified when the virtual server was installed.
Return code values
0 (success) or 1 (failure).
Result set
None.
Remarks
The start_full action is used to create a complete snapshot of the full-text data in @ftcat. The start_incremental action is used to reindex only the changed rows in the database. Incremental population can be applied only if the table has a column of the type timestamp. If a table in the full-text catalog doesn't contain a column of the type timestamp, the table undergoes a full population.
Full-text catalog and index data is stored in files created in a full-text catalog directory. The full-text catalog directory is created as a subdirectory of the directory specified in @path or in the server default full-text catalog directory if @path isn't specified. The name of the full-text catalog directory is built in a way that guarantees it's unique on the server. Therefore, all full-text catalog directories on a server can share the same path.
Permissions
The caller is required to be member of the db_owner role. Depending on the action requested, the caller shouldn't be denied ALTER or CONTROL permissions (which db_owner has) on the target full-text catalog.
Examples
A. Create a full-text catalog
This example creates an empty full-text catalog, Cat_Desc, in the AdventureWorks2022 database.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'create';
GO
B. Rebuild a full-text catalog
This example rebuilds an existing full-text catalog, Cat_Desc, in the AdventureWorks2022 database.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'rebuild';
GO
C. Start the population of a full-text catalog
This example begins a full population of the Cat_Desc catalog.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'start_full';
GO
D. Stop the population of a full-text catalog
This example stops the population of the Cat_Desc catalog.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'stop';
GO
E. Remove a full-text catalog
This example removes the Cat_Desc catalog.
USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'drop';
GO