Desktop Help 10.0 - Example: Creating a database view in SQL Server using the sdetable command

Complexity: Beginner Data Requirement: Use your own data

You can use the sdetable command to create a view in a geodatabase in Microsoft SQL Server. Doing so automatically registers the view with ArcSDE.

The example in this topic shows how a view created by sdetable can be used to restrict user access to specific data. The example is based on a table with the following definition:

CREATE TABLE employees(
  emp_id integer not null, 
  name nvarchar(32), 
  department smallint not null, 
  hire_date datetime2 not null
);

Notice that the table contains a not null integer column that can be used as an ArcSDE row ID.

Create a view using the sdetable command

Suppose you want the manager of department 101 to see all the columns in the table employees but only the rows for employees in department 101. Use sdetable to create a view with all rows in which the department number is 101. The –w option specifies the WHERE clause of the query stored with the view definition.

sdetable –o create_view –T view_dept_101 
–t employees –c "emp_id,name,department,hire_date" 
-w "where department = 101" –u gdb –p gdb.bdg 
–i sde:sqlserver:server1\ssinstance2 -D testdb

Attribute        Administration Utility
__________________________________
Successfully created view view_dept_101.

For more information on the sdetable command, see the Administration Command Reference.

The sdetable command defines the view in the SQL Server database. You can query the SQL Server INFORMATION_SCHEMA.VIEWS system view to see the definition in the database.

USE testdb;

SELECT table_name,view_definition
FROM information_schema.view_dept_101
WHERE table_name = 'view_dept_101';

TABLE_NAME	VIEW_DEFINITION
view_dept_101	CREATE VIEW view_dept_101 AS SELECT emp_id,name,department,hire_date FROM employees WHERE department=101

View_dept_101 definition in SQL Server system view

Caution:

Some users create registered views with sdetable –o create_view and alter the view definition using SQL. This is done to avoid complex sdetable –o create_view command line syntax (especially the –c option) or to include a more complex or extended view definition, such as one that uses connections to external databases. Although altering a view can solve some problems, it is also possible to create a view that does not work well with ArcSDE or ArcSDE clients such as ArcGIS Desktop.

Grant privileges on the view

The view owner can grant privileges on the view to specific users without having to grant those users access to the base table (employees). In this example, the user mgr100 is granted select privileges on the view, view_dept_101:

GRANT SELECT ON view_dept_101 TO mgr100;

Note:

In this example, the table owner and the view owner are the same user. If they were different, the table owner would need to grant the view owner privileges to select from the table plus the ability to grant select to other users. If the privilege is granted using SQL, include the WITH GRANT OPTION in the statement. If the privilege is granted using the sdetable command with the grant operation, the inherit (–I) option must be specified.

Test privileges

EXECUTE AS USER = 'mgr100';

SELECT * FROM view_dept_101;

emp_id   name     dept     hire_date 
29       YAN WU   101      04/15/2002 
67       LEE VAN  101      11/01/2004 
78       SUE CHOO 101      05/31/2005 
105      DAN HO   101      10/01/2006 
111      ANN ANG  101      12/15/2006 
135      BILL BO  101      10/15/2007

As expected, only records for employees in department 101 are returned.

Views exist as schema objects, independent of the tables that populate them. In the following query, the user mgr100 has no access to the table, employees, so it appears to mgr100 that the employees table does not exist.

SELECT * FROM gdb.employees;

Message 208, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Invalid object name 'gdb.employees'

8/19/2013