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PERMISSIONS (Transact-SQL)

Returns a value containing a bitmap that indicates the statement, object, or column permissions of the current user.

Important   This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Avoid using this feature in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use this feature. Use fn_my_permissions and HAS_PERMS_BY_NAME (Transact-SQL) instead. Continued use of the PERMISSIONS function may result in slower performance.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

PERMISSIONS ( [ objectid [ ,'column' ] ] )

Arguments

  • objectid
    Is the ID of a securable. If objectid is not specified, the bitmap value contains statement permissions for the current user; otherwise, the bitmap contains permissions on the securable for the current user. The securable specified must be in the current database. Use the OBJECT_ID function to determine the objectid value.

  • 'column'
    Is the optional name of a column for which permission information is being returned. The column must be a valid column name in the table specified by objectid.

Return Types

int

Remarks

PERMISSIONS can be used to determine whether the current user has the permissions required to execute a statement or to GRANT a permission to another user.

The permissions information returned is a 32-bit bitmap.

The lower 16 bits reflect permissions granted to the user, and also permissions that are applied to Windows groups or and fixed server roles of which the current user is a member. For example, a returned value of 66 (hex value 0x42), when no objectid is specified, indicates that the user has permission to execute the CREATE TABLE (decimal value 2) and BACKUP DATABASE (decimal value 64) statements.

The upper 16 bits reflect the permissions that the user can GRANT to other users. The upper 16 bits are interpreted exactly as those for the lower 16 bits described in the following tables, except they are shifted to the left by 16 bits (multiplied by 65536). For example, 0x8 (decimal value 8) is the bit that indicates INSERT permission when an objectid is specified. Whereas, 0x80000 (decimal value 524288) indicates the ability to GRANT INSERT permission, because 524288 = 8 x 65536.

Because of membership in roles, a user that does not have permission to execute a statement may still be able to grant that permission to another user.

The following table shows the bits that are used for statement permissions (objectid is not specified).

Bit (dec)

Bit (hex)

Statement permission

1

0x1

CREATE DATABASE (master database only)

2

0x2

CREATE TABLE

4

0x4

CREATE PROCEDURE

8

0x8

CREATE VIEW

16

0x10

CREATE RULE

32

0x20

CREATE DEFAULT

64

0x40

BACKUP DATABASE

128

0x80

BACKUP LOG

256

0x100

Reserved

The following table shows the bits used for object permissions that are returned when only objectid is specified.

Bit (dec)

Bit (hex)

Statement permission

1

0x1

SELECT ALL

2

0x2

UPDATE ALL

4

0x4

REFERENCES ALL

8

0x8

INSERT

16

0x10

DELETE

32

0x20

EXECUTE (procedures only)

4096

0x1000

SELECT ANY (at least one column)

8192

0x2000

UPDATE ANY

16384

0x4000

REFERENCES ANY

The following table shows the bits used for column-level object permissions that are returned when both objectid and column are specified.

Bit (dec)

Bit (hex)

Statement permission

1

0x1

SELECT

2

0x2

UPDATE

4

0x4

REFERENCES

A NULL is returned when a specified parameter is NULL or not valid (for example, an objectid or column that does not exist). The bit values for permissions that do not apply (for example EXECUTE permission, bit 0x20, for a table) are undefined.

Use the bitwise AND (&) operator to determine each bit set in the bitmap that is returned by the PERMISSIONS function.

The sp_helprotect system stored procedure can also be used to return a list of permissions for a user in the current database.

Examples

A. Using the PERMISSIONS function with statement permissions

The following example determines whether the current user can execute the CREATE TABLE statement.

IF PERMISSIONS()&2=2
   CREATE TABLE test_table (col1 INT)
ELSE
   PRINT 'ERROR: The current user cannot create a table.';

B. Using the PERMISSIONS function with object permissions

The following example determines whether the current user can insert a row of data into the Address table in the AdventureWorks database.

IF PERMISSIONS(OBJECT_ID('AdventureWorks.Person.Address','U'))&8=8 
   PRINT 'The current user can insert data into Person.Address.'
ELSE
   PRINT 'ERROR: The current user cannot insert data into Person.Address.';

C. Using the PERMISSIONS function with grantable permissions

The following example determines whether the current user can grant the INSERT permission on the Address table in the AdventureWorks database to another user.

IF PERMISSIONS(OBJECT_ID('AdventureWorks.Person.Address','U'))&0x80000=0x80000
   PRINT 'INSERT on Person.Address is grantable.'
ELSE
   PRINT 'You may not GRANT INSERT permissions on Person.Address.';