Change Publication and Article Properties

  • Article

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Managed Instance

After a publication has been created, most publication and article properties can be changed, but some require that the snapshot be regenerated and/or subscriptions be reinitialized. This topic provides information about all properties that require one or both of these actions if they are changed.

Publication Properties for Snapshot and Transactional Replication

Description Stored procedure Properties Requirements
Change snapshot format. sp_changepublication sync_method New snapshot.
Change snapshot location. sp_changepublication alt_snapshot_folder

snapshot_in_defaultfolder		 New snapshot.
Change snapshot location. sp_changedistpublisher working_directory New snapshot.
Change snapshot compression. sp_changepublication compress_snapshot New snapshot.
Change any File Transfer Protocol (FTP) snapshot options. sp_changepublication enabled_for_internet

ftp_address

ftp_login

ftp_password

ftp_port

ftp_subdirectory		 New snapshot.
Change pre- or post-snapshot script location. sp_changepublication pre_snapshot_script

post_snapshot_script		 New snapshot (also required if you change the script contents).

Reinitialization is required to apply the new script to the Subscriber.
Enable or disable support for non-Microsoft SQL Server Subscribers. sp_changepublication is_enabled_for_het_sub New snapshot.
Change conflict reporting for queued updating subscriptions sp_changepublication centralized_conflicts Can only be changed if there are no active subscriptions.
Change conflict resolution policy for queued updating subscriptions. sp_changepublication conflict_policy Can only be changed if there are no active subscriptions.

Article Properties for Snapshot and Transactional Replication

Description Stored procedure Properties Requirements
Drop an article sp_droparticle All parameters. Articles can be dropped prior to subscriptions being created. Using stored procedures, it is possible to drop a subscription to an article; using SQL Server Management Studio, the entire subscription must be dropped, recreated, and synchronized. For more information, see Add Articles to and Drop Articles from Existing Publications.
Change a column filter. sp_articlecolumn @column

@operation		 New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Add a row filter. sp_articlefilter All parameters. New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Drop a row filter. sp_articlefilter @article New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change a row filter. sp_articlefilter @filter_clause New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change a row filter. sp_changearticle filter New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change schema options. sp_changearticle schema_option New snapshot.
Change how tables at the Subscriber are handled prior to applying the snapshot. sp_changearticle pre_creation_cmd New snapshot.
Change article status sp_changearticle status New snapshot.
Change INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE commands. sp_changearticle ins_cmd

upd_cmd

del_cmd		 New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change destination table name sp_changearticle dest_table New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change destination table owner (schema). sp_changearticle destination_owner New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change data type mappings (applies to Oracle publishing only). sp_changearticlecolumndatatype @type

@length

@precision

@scale		 New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.

Publication Properties for Merge Replication

Description Stored procedure Properties Requirements
Change snapshot format sp_changemergepublication sync_mode New snapshot.
Change snapshot location. sp_changemergepublication alt_snapshot_folder

snapshot_in_defaultfolder		 New snapshot.
Change snapshot location. sp_changedistpublisher working_directory New snapshot.
Change snapshot compression sp_changemergepublication compress_snapshot New snapshot.
Change any FTP snapshot options sp_changemergepublication enabled_for_internet

ftp_address

ftp_login

ftp_password

ftp_port

ftp_subdirectory		 New snapshot.
Change pre- or post-snapshot scripts. sp_changemergepublication pre_snapshot_script

post_snapshot_script		 New snapshot (also required if you change the script contents).

Reinitialization is required to apply the new script to the Subscriber.
Add a join filter or logical record. sp_addmergefilter All parameters. New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Drop a join filter or logical record. sp_dropmergefilter All parameters. New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change a join filter or logical record. sp_changemergefilter @property

@value		 New snapshot

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Disable the use of parameterized filters (enabling parameterized filters does not require any special actions). sp_changemergepublication A value of false for dynamic_filters New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Enable or disable the use of precomputed partitions. sp_changemergepublication use_partition_groups New snapshot.
Enable or disable Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (8.x) partition optimization. sp_changemergepublication keep_partition_changes Reinitialize subscriptions.
Enable or disable Subscriber partition validation. sp_changemergepublication validate_subscriber_info Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change the publication compatibility level to 80sp3 or lower. sp_changemergepublication publication_compatibility_level New snapshot.

Article Properties for Merge Replication

Description Stored Procedure Properties Requirements
Drop an article, where the article has the last parameterized filter in the publication. sp_dropmergearticle All parameters New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Drop an article, where the article is a parent in a join filter or logical record (this has the side effect of dropping the join). sp_dropmergearticle All parameters New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Drop an article, all other circumstances. sp_dropmergearticle All parameters New snapshot.
Include a column filter that was previously unpublished. sp_mergearticlecolumn @column

@operation		 New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Add, drop, or change a row filter. sp_changemergearticle subset_filterclause New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.

If you add, drop, or change a parameterized filter, pending changes at the Subscriber cannot be uploaded to the Publisher during reinitialization. If you want to upload pending changes, synchronize all subscriptions before changing the filter.

If an article is not involved in any join filters, you can drop the article and add it again with a different row filter, which does not require the entire subscription to be reinitialized. For more information about adding and dropping articles, see Add Articles to and Drop Articles from Existing Publications.
Change schema options. sp_changemergearticle schema_option New snapshot.
Change tracking from column-level to row-level (changing from row-level tracking to column-level tracking does not require any special actions). sp_changemergearticle A value of false for column_tracking New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change whether permissions are checked before statements made at the Subscriber are applied at the Publisher. sp_changemergearticle check_permissions New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.
Enable or disable download-only subscriptions (changing to or from other upload options does not require any special actions). sp_changemergearticle Change to or from a value of 2 for subscriber_upload_options Reinitialize subscriptions.
Change destination table owner. sp_changemergearticle destination_owner New snapshot.

Reinitialize subscriptions.

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