sys.user_token (Transact-SQL)

Returns one row for every database principal that is part of the user token.

Column name	Data type	Description
principal_id	int	ID of the principal. The value is unique within database.
sid	varbinary(85)	Security identifier of the principal if the principal is defined external to the database. For example, this can be a SQL Server login, Windows login, Windows Group login, or a login mapped to a certificate, otherwise, this value is NULL.
name	nvarchar (128)	Name of the principal. The value is unique within database.
type	nvarchar (128)	Description of principal type. All types are mapped to sid. The value can be one of the following: SQL USER WINDOWS LOGIN WINDOWS GROUP ROLE APPLICATION ROLE USER MAPPED TO CERTIFICATE USER MAPPED TO ASYMMETRIC KEY CERTIFICATE ASYMMETRIC KEY
usage	nvarchar (128)	Indicates the principal participates in the evaluation of GRANT or DENY permissions, or serves as an authenticator. This value can be one of the following: GRANT OR DENY DENY ONLY AUTHENTICATOR

See Also

Reference

sys.login_token (Transact-SQL)
sys.server_principals (Transact-SQL)
sys.database_principals (Transact-SQL)

Other Resources

IDs and SIDs
Understanding Execution Context
Context Switching
Principals

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History

Release	History
12 December 2006	Changed content: Corrected the values for type. Added note about mapping type to sid. Corrected values for usage.
5 December 2005	Changed content: Changed column name sid_id to sid. Corrected the size of the nvarchar columns.