sp_help_category (Transact-SQL)
Provides information about the specified classes of jobs, alerts, or operators.
Syntax
sp_help_category [ [ @class = ] 'class' ]
[ , [ @type = ] 'type' ]
[ , [ @name = ] 'name' ]
[ , [ @suffix = ] suffix ]
Arguments
[ @class=] 'class'
The class about which information is requested. class is varchar(8), with a default value of JOB. class can be one of these values.Value Description JOB
Provides information about a job category.
ALERT
Provides information about an alert category.
OPERATOR
Provides information about an operator category.
[ @type= ] 'type'
The type of category for which information is requested. type is varchar(12), with a default of NULL, and can be one of these values.Value Description LOCAL
Local job category.
MULTI -SERVER
Multiserver job category.
NONE
Category for a class other than JOB.
- [ @name= ] 'name'
The name of the category for which information is requested. name is sysname, with a default of NULL.
- [ @suffix= ] suffix
Specifies whether the category_type column in the result set is an ID or a name. suffix is bit, with a default of 0. 1 shows the category_type as a name, and 0 shows it as an ID.
Return Code Values
0 (success) or 1 (failure)
Result Sets
When @suffix is 0, sp_help_category returns the following result set:
| Column name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
category_id |
int |
Category ID |
category_type |
tinyint |
Type of category: 1 = Local 2 = Multiserver 3 = None |
name |
sysname |
Category name |
When @suffix is 1, sp_help_category returns the following result set:
| Column name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
category_id |
int |
Category ID |
category_type |
sysname |
Type of category. One of LOCAL, MULTI-SERVER, or NONE |
name |
sysname |
Category name |
Remarks
sp_help_category must be run from the msdb database.
If no parameters are specified, the result set provides information about all of the job categories.
Permissions
By default, members of the sysadmin fixed server role can execute this stored procedure. 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
A. Return local job information
The following example returns information about jobs that are administered locally.
USE msdb ;
GO
EXEC dbo.sp_help_category
@type = N'LOCAL' ;
GO
B. Return alert information
The following example returns information about the Replication alert category.
USE msdb ;
GO
EXEC dbo.sp_help_category
@class = N'ALERT',
@name = N'Replication' ;
GO
See Also
Reference
sp_add_category (Transact-SQL)
sp_delete_category (Transact-SQL)
sp_update_category (Transact-SQL)
System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)