sp_addmergearticle (Transact-SQL)

Adds an article to an existing merge publication. This stored procedure is executed at the Publisher on the publication database.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

sp_addmergearticle [ @publication = ] 'publication' 
        , [ @article = ] 'article' 
        , [ @source_object = ] 'source_object' 
    [ , [ @type = ] 'type' ] 
    [ , [ @description = ] 'description' ] 
    [ , [ @column_tracking = ] 'column_tracking' ] 
    [ , [ @status = ] 'status' ] 
    [ , [ @pre_creation_cmd = ] 'pre_creation_cmd' ] 
    [ , [ @creation_script = ] 'creation_script' ] 
    [ , [ @schema_option = ] schema_option ] 
    [ , [ @subset_filterclause = ] 'subset_filterclause' ] 
    [ , [ @article_resolver = ] 'article_resolver' ] 
    [ , [ @resolver_info = ] 'resolver_info' ] 
    [ , [ @source_owner = ] 'source_owner' ] 
    [ , [ @destination_owner = ] 'destination_owner' ] 
    [ , [ @vertical_partition = ] 'vertical_partition' ] 
    [ , [ @auto_identity_range = ] 'auto_identity_range' ] 
    [ , [ @pub_identity_range = ] pub_identity_range ] 
    [ , [ @identity_range = ] identity_range ] 
    [ , [ @threshold = ] threshold ] 
    [ , [ @verify_resolver_signature = ] verify_resolver_signature ] 
    [ , [ @destination_object = ] 'destination_object' ] 
    [ , [ @allow_interactive_resolver = ] 'allow_interactive_resolver' ] 
    [ , [ @fast_multicol_updateproc = ] 'fast_multicol_updateproc' ] 
    [ , [ @check_permissions = ] check_permissions ] 
    [ , [ @force_invalidate_snapshot = ] force_invalidate_snapshot ]
    [ , [ @published_in_tran_pub = ] 'published_in_tran_pub' ]
    [ , [ @force_reinit_subscription = ] force_reinit_subscription ]
    [ , [ @logical_record_level_conflict_detection = ] 'logical_record_level_conflict_detection' ]
    [ , [ @logical_record_level_conflict_resolution = ] 'logical_record_level_conflict_resolution' ]
    [ , [ @partition_options = ] partition_options ]
    [ , [ @processing_order = ] processing_order ]
    [ , [ @subscriber_upload_options = ] subscriber_upload_options ]
    [ , [ @identityrangemanagementoption = ] 'identityrangemanagementoption' ]
    [ , [ @delete_tracking = ] delete_tracking ]
    [ , [ @compensate_for_errors = ] 'compensate_for_errors' ] 
    [ , [ @stream_blob_columns = ] 'stream_blob_columns' ]

Arguments

• [ @publication= ] 'publication'
  Is the name of the publication that contains the article. publication is sysname, with no default.

• [ @article= ] 'article'
  Is the name of the article. The name must be unique within the publication. article is sysname, with no default. article must be on the local computer running Microsoft SQL Server, and must conform to the rules for identifiers.

• [ @source_object= ] 'source_object'
  Is the database object to be published. source_object is sysname, with no default. For more information about the types of objects that can be published using merge replication, see Publishing Data and Database Objects.

• [ @type= ] 'type'
  Is the type of article. type is sysname, with a default of table, and can be one of the following values.

  Value	Description
  table (default)	Table with schema and data. Replication monitors the table to determine data to be replicated.
  func schema only	Function with schema only.
  indexed view schema only	Indexed view with schema only.
  proc schema only	Stored procedure with schema only.
  synonym schema only	Synonym with schema only.
  view schema only	View with schema only.

• [ @description= ] 'description'
  Is a description of the article. description is nvarchar(255), with a default of NULL.

• [ @column_tracking= ] 'column_tracking'
  Is the setting for column-level tracking. column_tracking is nvarchar(10), with a default of FALSE. true turns on column tracking. false turns off column tracking and leaves conflict detection at the row level. If the table is already published in other merge publications, you must use the same column tracking value used by existing articles based on this table. This parameter is specific to table articles only.

  Note

  If row tracking is used for conflict detection (the default), the base table can include a maximum of 1,024 columns, but columns must be filtered from the article so that a maximum of 246 columns is published. If column tracking is used, the base table can include a maximum of 246 columns. For more information about the tracking level, see the "Tracking Level" section of How Merge Replication Detects and Resolves Conflicts.

• [ @status= ] 'status'
  Is the status of the article. status is nvarchar(10), with a default of unsynced. If active, the initial processing script to publish the table is run. If unsynced, the initial processing script to publish the table is run at the next time the Snapshot Agent runs.

• [ @pre_creation_cmd= ] 'pre_creation_cmd'
  Specifies what the system is to do if the table exists at the subscriber when applying the snapshot. pre_creation_cmd is nvarchar(10), and can be one of the following values.

  Value	Description
  none	If the table already exists at the Subscriber, no action is taken.
  delete	Issues a delete based on the WHERE clause in the subset filter.
  drop (default)	Drops the table before re-creating it. Required to support Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Subscribers.
  truncate	Truncates the destination table.

• [ @creation_script= ] 'creation_script'
  Is the path and name of an optional article schema script used to create the article in the subscription database. creation_script is nvarchar(255), with a default of NULL.

  Note

  Creation scripts are not run on SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Subscribers.

• [ @schema_option= ] schema_option
  Is a bitmap of the schema generation option for the given article. schema_option is binary(8), and can be the | (Bitwise OR) product of one or more of these values.

  Value

• [ @subset_filterclause= ] 'subset_filterclause'
  Is a WHERE clause specifying the horizontal filtering of a table article without the word WHERE included. subset_filterclause is of nvarchar(1000), with a default of an empty string.

  Important

  For performance reasons, we recommended that you not apply functions to column names in parameterized row filter clauses, such as LEFT([MyColumn]) = SUSER_SNAME(). If you use HOST_NAME in a filter clause and override the HOST_NAME value, you might have to convert data types by using CONVERT. For more information about best practices for this case, see the section "Overriding the HOST_NAME() Value" in Parameterized Row Filters.

• [ @article_resolver= ] 'article_resolver'
  Is the COM-based resolver used to resolve conflicts on the table article or the .NET Framework assembly invoked to execute custom business logic on the table article. article_resolver is varchar(255), with a default of NULL. Available values for this parameter are listed in Microsoft Custom Resolvers. If the value provided is not one of the Microsoft resolvers, SQL Server uses the specified resolver instead of the system-supplied resolver. Use sp_enumcustomresolvers to enumerate the list of available custom resolvers. For more information, see Executing Business Logic During Merge Synchronization and Advanced Merge Replication Conflict Detection and Resolution.

• [ @resolver_info= ] 'resolver_info'
  Is used to specify additional information required by a custom resolver. Some of the Microsoft Resolvers require a column provided as input to the resolver. resolver_info is nvarchar(255), with a default of NULL. For more information, see Microsoft COM-Based Resolvers.

• [ @source_owner= ] 'source_owner'
  Is the name of the owner of the source_object. source_owner is sysname, with a default of NULL. If NULL, the current user is assumed to be the owner.

• [ @destination_owner= ] 'destination_owner'
  Is the owner of the object in the subscription database, if not 'dbo'. destination_owner is sysname, with a default of NULL. If NULL, 'dbo' is assumed to be the owner.

• [ @vertical_partition= ] 'column_filter'
  Enables and disables column filtering on a table article. vertical_partition is nvarchar(5) with a default of FALSE.

  false indicates there is no vertical filtering and publishes all columns.

  true clears all columns except the declared primary key and ROWGUID columns. Columns are added by using sp_mergearticlecolumn.

• [ @auto_identity_range= ] 'automatic_identity_range'
  Enables and disables automatic identity range handling for this table article on a publication at the time it is created. auto_identity_range is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE. true enables automatic identity range handling, while false disables it.

  Note

  auto_identity_range has been deprecated and is provided for backward compatibility only. You should use identityrangemanagementoption for specifying identity range management options. For more information, see Replicating Identity Columns.

• [ @pub_identity_range= ] pub_identity_range
  Controls the identity range size allocated to a Subscriber with a server subscription when automatic identity range management is used. This identity range is reserved for a republishing Subscriber to allocate to its own Subscribers. pub_identity_range is bigint, with a default of NULL. You must specify this parameter if identityrangemanagementoption is auto or if auto_identity_range is true.

• [ @identity_range= ] identity_range
  Controls the identity range size allocated both to the Publisher and to the Subscriber when automatic identity range management is used. identity_range is bigint, with a default of NULL. You must specify this parameter if identityrangemanagementoption is auto or if auto_identity_range is true.

  Note

  identity_range controls the identity range size at republishing Subscribers using previous versions of SQL Server.

• [ @threshold= ] threshold
  Percentage value that controls when the Merge Agent assigns a new identity range. When the percentage of values specified in threshold is used, the Merge Agent creates a new identity range. threshold is int, with a default of NULL. You must specify this parameter if identityrangemanagementoption is auto or if auto_identity_range is true.

• [ @verify_resolver_signature= ] verify_resolver_signature
  Specifies if a digital signature is verified before using a resolver in merge replication. verify_resolver_signature is int, with a default of 1.

  0 specifies that the signature will not be verified.

  1 specifies that the signature will be verified to see if it is from a trusted source.

• [ @destination_object= ] 'destination_object'
  Is the name of the object in the subscription database. destination_object is sysname, with a default value of what is in @source_object. This parameter can be specified only if the article is a schema-only article, such as stored procedures, views, and UDFs. If the article specified is a table article, the value in @source_object overrides the value in destination_object.

• [ @allow_interactive_resolver= ] 'allow_interactive_resolver'
  Enables or disables the use of the Interactive Resolver on an article. allow_interactive_resolver is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE. true enables the use of the Interactive Resolver on the article; false disables it.

  Note

  Interactive Resolver is not supported by SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Subscribers.

• [ @fast_multicol_updateproc= ] 'fast_multicol_updateproc'
  This parameter has been deprecated and is maintained for backward compatibility of scripts.

• [ @check_permissions= ] check_permissions
  Is a bitmap of the table-level permissions that are verified when the Merge Agent applies changes to the Publisher. If the Publisher login/user account used by the merge process does not have the correct table permissions, the invalid changes are logged as conflicts. check_permissions is int, and can be the | (Bitwise OR) product of one or more of the following values.

  Value	Description
  0x00 (default)	Permissions are not checked.
  0x10	Checks permissions at the Publisher before insert operations made at a Subscriber can be uploaded.
  0x20	Checks permissions at the Publisher before update operations made at a Subscriber can be uploaded.
  0x40	Checks permissions at the Publisher before delete operations made at a Subscriber can be uploaded.

• [ @force_invalidate_snapshot= ] force_invalidate_snapshot
  Acknowledges that the action taken by this stored procedure may invalidate an existing snapshot. force_invalidate_snapshot is a bit, with a default of 0.

  0 specifies that adding an article does not cause the snapshot to be invalid. If the stored procedure detects that the change does require a new snapshot, an error occurs and no changes are made.

  1 specifies that adding an article may cause the snapshot to be invalid, and if there are existing subscriptions that require a new snapshot, gives permission for the existing snapshot to be marked as obsolete and a new snapshot generated. force_invalidate_snapshot is set to 1 when adding an article to a publication with an existing snapshot.

• [ @published_in_tran_pub= ] 'published_in_tran_pub'
  Indicates that an article in a merge publication is also published in a transactional publication. published_in_tran_pub is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE. true specifies that the article is also published in a transactional publication.

• [ @force_reinit_subscription= ] force_reinit_subscription
  Acknowledges that the action taken by this stored procedure may require existing subscriptions to be reinitialized. force_reinit_subscription is a bit, with a default of 0.

  0 specifies that adding an article does not cause the subscription to be reinitialized. If the stored procedure detects that the change would require existing subscriptions to be reinitialized, an error occurs and no changes are made.

  1 means that changes to the merge article causes existing subscriptions to be reinitialized, and gives permission for the subscription reinitialization to occur. force_reinit_subscription is set to 1 when subset_filterclause specifies a parameterized row filter.

• [ @logical_record_level_conflict_detection= ] 'logical_record_level_conflict_detection'
  Specifies the level of conflict detection for an article that is a member of a logical record. logical_record_level_conflict_detection is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE.

  true specifies that a conflict will be detected if changes are made anywhere in the logical record.

  false specifies that the default conflict detection is used as specified by column_tracking. For more information, see Grouping Changes to Related Rows with Logical Records.

  Note

  Because logical records are not supported by SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Subscribers, you must specify a value of false for logical_record_level_conflict_detection to support these Subscribers.

• [ @logical_record_level_conflict_resolution= ] 'logical_record_level_conflict_resolution'
  Specifies the level of conflict resolution for an article that is a member of a logical record. logical_record_level_conflict_resolution is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE.

  true specifies that the entire winning logical record overwrites the losing logical record.

  false specifies that winning rows are not constrained to the logical record. If logical_record_level_conflict_detection is true, then logical_record_level_conflict_resolution must also be set to true. For more information, see Grouping Changes to Related Rows with Logical Records.

  Note

  Because logical records are not supported by SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Subscribers, you must specify a value of false for logical_record_level_conflict_resolution to support these Subscribers.

• [ @partition_options= ] partition_options
  Defines the way in which data in the article is partitioned, which enables performance optimizations when all rows belong in only one partition or in only one subscription. partition_options is tinyint, and can be one of the following values.

  Value	Description
  0 (default)	The filtering for the article either is static or does not yield a unique subset of data for each partition, that is, an "overlapping" partition.
  1	The partitions are overlapping, and data manipulation language (DML) updates made at the Subscriber cannot change the partition to which a row belongs.
  2	The filtering for the article yields non-overlapping partitions, but multiple Subscribers can receive the same partition.
  3	The filtering for the article yields non-overlapping partitions that are unique for each subscription.

  Note

  If the source table for an article is already published in another publication, then the value of partition_options must be the same for both articles.

• [ @processing_order= ] processing_order
  Indicates the processing order of articles in a merge publication. processing_order is int, with a default of 0. 0 specifies that the article is unordered, and any other value represents the ordinal value of the processing order for this article. Articles are processed in order from lowest to highest value. If two articles have the same value, processing order is determined by the order of the article nickname in the sysmergearticles system table. For more information, see Specifying the Processing Order of Merge Articles.

• [ @subscriber_upload_options= ] subscriber_upload_options
  Defines restrictions on updates made at a Subscriber with a client subscription. For more information, see Optimizing Merge Replication Performance with Download-Only Articles. subscriber_upload_options is tinyint, and can be one of the following values.

  Value	Description
  0 (default)	No restrictions. Changes made at the Subscriber are uploaded to the Publisher.
  1	Changes are allowed at the Subscriber, but they are not uploaded to the Publisher.
  2	Changes are not allowed at the Subscriber.

  Note

  If the source table for an article is already published in another publication, the value of subscriber_upload_options must be the same for both articles.

• [ @identityrangemanagementoption= ] identityrangemanagementoption
  Specifies how identity range management is handled for the article. identityrangemanagementoption is nvarchar(10), and can be one of the following values.

  Value	Description
  none	Disables identity range management.
  manual	Marks the identity column using NOT FOR REPLICATION to enable manual identity range handling.
  auto	Specifies automatic management of identity ranges.
  NULL(default)	Defaults to none when the value of auto_identity_range is not true.

  For backward compatibility, when the value of identityrangemanagementoption is NULL, the value of auto_identity_range is checked. However, when the value of identityrangemanagementoption is not NULL, then the value of auto_identity_range is ignored. For more information, see Replicating Identity Columns.

• [ @delete_tracking= ] 'delete_tracking'
  Indicates whether deletes are replicated. delete_tracking is nvarchar(5), with a default of TRUE. false indicates that deletes are not replicated, and true indicates that deletes are replicated, which is the usual behavior for merge replication. When delete_tracking is set to false, rows deleted at the Subscriber must be manually removed at the Publisher, and rows deleted at the Publisher must be manually removed at the Subscriber.

  Important

  Setting delete_tracking to false results in non-convergence. If the source table for an article is already published in another publication, then the value of delete_tracking must be the same for both articles.

  Note

  delete_tracking options cannot be set using the New Publication Wizard or the Publication Properties dialog box.

• [ @compensate_for_errors= ] 'compensate_for_errors'
  Indicates if compensating actions are taken when errors are encountered during synchronization. compensate_for_errors is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE. When set to true, changes that cannot be applied at a Subscriber or Publisher during synchronization always lead to compensating actions to undo the change; however, one incorrectly configured Subscriber that generates an error can cause changes at other Subscribers and Publishers to be undone. false disables these compensating actions, however, the errors are still logged as with compensation and subsequent merges continues to attempt to apply the changes until successful.

  Note

  For pull subscriptions at Subscribers running Microsoft SQL Server 2000 version 8.00.858 and earlier (which includes SP3), compensating actions still occur even with compensate_for_errors set to false.

  Important

  Although data in the affected rows might appear to be out of convergence, as soon as you address any errors, changes can be applied and data will converge. If the source table for an article is already published in another publication, then the value of compensate_for_errors must be the same for both articles.

• [ @stream_blob_columns= ] 'stream_blob_columns'
  Specifies that a data stream optimization be used when replicating binary large object columns. stream_blob_columns is nvarchar(5), with a default of FALSE. true means that the optimization will be attempted.

  Important

  Enabling this memory optimization may reduce the performance of the Merge Agent during synchronization. This option should only be used when replicating columns that contain megabytes of data.

  Note

  Certain merge replication functionalities, such as logical records, can still prevent the stream optimization from being used when replicating binary large objects even with stream_blob_columns set to true.

Return Code Values

0 (success) or 1 (failure)

Remarks

sp_addmergearticle is used in merge replication.

When you publish objects, their definitions are copied to Subscribers. If you are publishing a database object that depends on one or more other objects, you must publish all referenced objects. For example, if you publish a view that depends on a table, you must publish the table also.

If you specify a value of 3 for partition_options, there can be only a single subscription for each partition of data in that article. If a second subscription is created in which the filtering criterion of the new subscription resolves to the same partition as the existing subscription, the existing subscription is dropped.

When specifying a value of 3 for partition_options, metadata is cleaned-up whenever the Merge Agent runs and the partitioned snapshot expires more quickly. When using this option, you should consider enabling subscriber requested partitioned snapshot. For more information, see Snapshots for Merge Publications with Parameterized Filters.

Adding an article with a static horizontal filter, using subset_filterclause, to an existing publication with articles that have parameterized filters requires the subscriptions be reinitialized.

When specifying processing_order, we recommend leaving gaps between the article order values, which makes it easier to set new values in the future. For example, if you have three articles Article1, Article2, and Article3, set processing_order to 10, 20, and 30, rather than 1, 2, and 3. For more information, see Specifying the Processing Order of Merge Articles.

Default Schema Option Table

This table describes the default value that is set by the stored procedure if a NULL value is specified for schema_option, which depends on article type.

Valid Schema Option Table

The following table describes the allowed values schema_option depending on article type.

Permissions

Requires membership in the sysadmin fixed server role or the db_owner fixed database role.

Example

DECLARE @publication AS sysname;
DECLARE @table1 AS sysname;
DECLARE @table2 AS sysname;
DECLARE @table3 AS sysname;
DECLARE @salesschema AS sysname;
DECLARE @hrschema AS sysname;
DECLARE @filterclause AS nvarchar(1000);
SET @publication = N'AdvWorksSalesOrdersMerge'; 
SET @table1 = N'Employee'; 
SET @table2 = N'SalesOrderHeader'; 
SET @table3 = N'SalesOrderDetail'; 
SET @salesschema = N'Sales';
SET @hrschema = N'HumanResources';
SET @filterclause = N'Employee.LoginID = HOST_NAME()';

-- Add a filtered article for the Employee table.
EXEC sp_addmergearticle 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table1, 
  @source_object = @table1, 
  @type = N'table', 
  @source_owner = @hrschema,
  @schema_option = 0x0004CF1,
  @description = N'article for the Employee table',
  @subset_filterclause = @filterclause;

-- Add an article for the SalesOrderHeader table that is filtered
-- based on Employee and horizontally filtered.
EXEC sp_addmergearticle 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table2, 
  @source_object = @table2, 
  @type = N'table', 
  @source_owner = @salesschema, 
  @vertical_partition = N'true',
  @schema_option = 0x0034EF1,
  @description = N'article for the SalesOrderDetail table';

-- Add an article for the SalesOrderDetail table that is filtered
-- based on SaledOrderHeader.
EXEC sp_addmergearticle 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table3, 
  @source_object = @table3, 
  @source_owner = @salesschema,
  @description = 'article for the SalesOrderHeader table', 
  @identityrangemanagementoption = N'auto', 
  @pub_identity_range = 100000, 
  @identity_range = 100, 
  @threshold = 80,
  @schema_option = 0x0004EF1;

-- Add all columns to the SalesOrderHeader article.
EXEC sp_mergearticlecolumn 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table2, 
  @force_invalidate_snapshot = 1, 
  @force_reinit_subscription = 1;

-- Remove the credit card Approval Code column.
EXEC sp_mergearticlecolumn 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table2, 
  @column = N'CreditCardApprovalCode', 
  @operation = N'drop', 
  @force_invalidate_snapshot = 1, 
  @force_reinit_subscription = 1;

-- Add a merge join filter between Employee and SalesOrderHeader.
EXEC sp_addmergefilter 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table2, 
  @filtername = N'SalesOrderHeader_Employee', 
  @join_articlename = @table1, 
  @join_filterclause = N'Employee.EmployeeID = SalesOrderHeader.SalesPersonID', 
  @join_unique_key = 1, 
  @filter_type = 1, 
  @force_invalidate_snapshot = 1, 
  @force_reinit_subscription = 1;

-- Add a merge join filter between SalesOrderHeader and SalesOrderDetail.
EXEC sp_addmergefilter 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @article = @table3, 
  @filtername = N'SalesOrderDetail_SalesOrderHeader', 
  @join_articlename = @table2, 
  @join_filterclause = N'SalesOrderHeader.SalesOrderID = SalesOrderDetail.SalesOrderID', 
  @join_unique_key = 1, 
  @filter_type = 1, 
  @force_invalidate_snapshot = 1, 
  @force_reinit_subscription = 1;
GO

See Also

Reference

sp_changemergearticle (Transact-SQL)
sp_dropmergearticle (Transact-SQL)
sp_helpmergearticle (Transact-SQL)
Replication Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)

Other Resources

How to: Define an Article (Replication Transact-SQL Programming)
Publishing Data and Database Objects
Replicating Identity Columns
How Merge Replication Detects and Resolves Conflicts

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History