sp_fulltext_catalog
Creates and drops a full-text catalog, and starts and stops the indexing action for a catalog. Multiple full-text catalogs can be created for each database.
Syntax
sp_fulltext_catalog [ @ftcat = ] 'fulltext_catalog_name' ,
[ @action = ] 'action'
[ , [ @path = ] 'root_directory' ]
Arguments
[@ftcat =] 'fulltext_catalog_name'
Is the name of the full-text catalog. Catalog names must be unique for each database. fulltext_catalog_name is sysname.
[@action =] 'action'
Is the action to be performed. action is varchar(20), and can be one of these values.
Note Full-text catalogs can be created, dropped, and modified as needed; however, avoid making schema changes on multiple catalogs at the same time. These actions can be performed using the sp_fulltext_table stored procedure, which is the recommended way.
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Create | Creates an empty, new full-text catalog in the file system and adds an associated row in sysfulltextcatalogs with the fulltext_catalog_name and root_directory (if present) values. fulltext_catalog_name must be unique within the database. |
| Drop | Drops fulltext_catalog_name by removing it from the file system and deleting the associated row in sysfulltextcatalogs. This action fails if this catalog contains indexes for one or more tables. sp_fulltext_table 'table_name', 'drop' should be executed to drop the tables from the catalog.
An error is displayed if the catalog does not exist. |
| start_incremental | Starts an incremental population for fulltext_catalog_name. An error is displayed if the catalog does not exist. If a full-text index population is already active, a warning is displayed but no population action occurs. With incremental population, only changed rows are retrieved for full-text indexing, provided there is a timestamp column present in the table being full-text indexed. |
| start_full | Starts a full population for fulltext_catalog_name. Every row of every table associated with this full-text catalog is retrieved for full-text indexing, even if indexed. |
| Stop | Stops an index population for fulltext_catalog_name. An error is displayed if the catalog does not exist. No warning is displayed if population is already stopped. |
| Rebuild | Rebuilds fulltext_catalog_name by deleting the existing full-text catalog from the file system, re-creating the full-text catalog, and reassociating the full-text catalog with all the tables that have full-text indexing references.
Rebuilding does not change any full-text metadata in the database system tables, nor does it cause the repopulation of the newly created full-text catalog. To repopulate, sp_fulltext_catalog must be executed with the start_full or start_incremental action. |
[@path =] 'root_directory'
Is the root directory (not the complete physical path) for a create action. root_directory is nvarchar(100) and has a default value of NULL, which indicates the use of the default location specified at setup. This is the Ftdata subdirectory in the Mssql directory; for example, C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\Mssql\Ftdata. The specified root directory must reside on a drive on the same computer, consist of more than just the drive letter, and cannot be a relative path. Network drives, removable drives, floppy disks, and UNC paths are not supported. Full-text catalogs must be created on a local hard drive associated with an instance of Microsoft® SQL Server™.
@path is valid only when action is create. For actions other than create (stop, rebuild, and so on), @path must be NULL or omitted.
Return Code Values
0 (success) or 1 (failure)
Result Sets
None
Remarks
The start_full action is used to create a complete snapshot of the full-text data in fulltext_catalog_name. The start_incremental action is used to reindex only the changed rows in the database. For an incremental index, a timestamp column is required in one column of the table.
Full-text catalog and index data is stored in files created in a full-text catalog directory. The full-text catalog directory is created as a sub-directory of the directory specified in @path, or in the server default full-text catalog directory if @path is not specified. The name of the full-text catalog directory is built in a way that guarantees it will be unique on the server. Therefore, all full-text catalog directories on a server can share the same path.
Permissions
Only members of the sysadmin fixed server role and the db_owner (or higher) fixed database roles can execute sp_fulltext_catalog.
Examples
A. Create a full-text catalog
This example creates an empty full-text catalog, Cat_Desc, in the Northwind database.
USE Northwind
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'create'
B. To rebuild a full-text catalog
This example rebuilds an existing full-text catalog, Cat_Desc, in the Northwind database.
USE Northwind
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'rebuild'
C. Start the population of a full-text catalog
This example begins a full population of the Cat_Desc catalog.
USE Northwind
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'start_full'
D. Stop the population of a full-text catalog
This example stops the population of the Cat_Desc catalog.
USE Northwind
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'stop'
E. To remove a full-text catalog
This example removes the Cat_Desc catalog.
USE Northwind
EXEC sp_fulltext_catalog 'Cat_Desc', 'drop'