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Using Synonyms

A synonym is an alternative name for a schema-scoped object. In SMO, synonyms are represented by the Synonym object. The Synonym object is a child of the Database object. This means that synonyms are valid only within the scope of the database in which they are defined. However, the synonym can refer to objects on another database, or on a remote instance of SQL Server.

The object that is given an alternative name is known as the base object. The name property of the Synonym object is the alternative name given to the base object.

Example

For the following code example, you will have to select the programming environment, programming template and the programming language to create your application. For more information, see How to: Create a Visual Basic SMO Project in Visual Studio .NET and How to: Create a Visual C# SMO Project in Visual Studio .NET.

Creating a Synonym in Visual Basic

The code example shows how to create a synonym or an alternate name for a schema scoped object. Client applications can use a single reference for the base object via a synonym instead of using a multiple part name to reference the base object.

'Connect to the local, default instance of SQL Server.
Dim srv As Server
srv = New Server()
'Reference the AdventureWorks2008R2 database.
Dim db As Database
db = srv.Databases("AdventureWorks2008R2")
'Define a Synonym object variable by supplying the parent database, name, and schema arguments in the constructor.
'The name is also a synonym of the name of the base object.
Dim syn As Synonym
syn = New Synonym(db, "Shop", "Sales")
'Specify the base object, which is the object on which the synonym is based.
syn.BaseDatabase = "AdventureWorks2008R2"
syn.BaseSchema = "Sales"
syn.BaseObject = "Store"
syn.BaseServer = srv.Name
'Create the synonym on the instance of SQL Server.
syn.Create()

Creating a Synonym in Visual C#

The code example shows how to create a synonym or an alternate name for a schema scoped object. Client applications can use a single reference for the base object via a synonym instead of using a multiple part name to reference the base object.

{
            //Connect to the local, default instance of SQL Server. 
            Server srv = new Server();

            //Reference the AdventureWorks2008R2 database. 
            Database db = srv.Databases["AdventureWorks2008R2"];

            //Define a Synonym object variable by supplying the 
            //parent database, name, and schema arguments in the constructor. 
            //The name is also a synonym of the name of the base object. 
            Synonym syn = new Synonym(db, "Shop", "Sales");

            //Specify the base object, which is the object on which 
            //the synonym is based. 
            syn.BaseDatabase = "AdventureWorks2008R2";
            syn.BaseSchema = "Sales";
            syn.BaseObject = "Store";
            syn.BaseServer = srv.Name;

            //Create the synonym on the instance of SQL Server. 
            syn.Create();
        }

Creating a Synonym in PowerShell

The code example shows how to create a synonym or an alternate name for a schema scoped object. Client applications can use a single reference for the base object via a synonym instead of using a multiple part name to reference the base object.

#Get a server object which corresponds to the default instance
$srv = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.SMO.Server

#And the database object corresponding to Adventureworks
$db = $srv.Databases["AdventureWorks2008R2"]

$syn = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.SMO.Synonym `
-argumentlist $db, "Shop", "Sales"

#Specify the base object, which is the object on which the synonym is based.
$syn.BaseDatabase = "AdventureWorks2008R2"
$syn.BaseSchema = "Sales"
$syn.BaseObject = "Store"
$syn.BaseServer = $srv.Name

#Create the synonym on the instance of SQL Server.
$syn.Create()