The Database Console Commands (DBCC)

Those of you familiar with previous versions of SQL Server might know the DBCC
statements as the Database Consistency Checker. All documentation now refers to them
as the Database Console Commands, probably in deference to the fact that not all of them
are used for database consistency checks.

Running DBCC statements are an integral part of database maintenance. Some, such as

DBCC CHECKDB, can be run on a scheduled basis (this is the one the wizard runs) as a

preventative measure, and others, such as DBCC SHRINKFILE, you can choose to run
when needed, table below lists some of the DBCC statements commonly used for
database maintenance.

Database Maintenance DBCC Statements

DBCC

Function

CHECKDB

Checks allocation and integrity of all DB objects

CHECKALLOC

Checks the consistency of disk space allocation

CHECKTABLE

Checks the integrity of the specified table and its indexes

SHRINKDATABASE

Attempts to shrink all data files in the specified database

SHRINKFILE

Attempts to shrink a specified data file

SHOWCONTIG

Displays fragmentation information on a table and its indexes

DBREINDEX

Rebuilds indexes for a specified table

INDEXDEFRAG

Defragments indexes for a specified table or view

Detecting and Resolving Database Corruption

Several of the DBCC statements have the ability to detect and attempt to repair
corruption in the database. Power failures or spikes, hardware glitches, or even internal
SQL Server errors can cause this corruption. The primary validation DBCCs are the

CHECK statements listed here:

•

DBCC CHECKDB

•

DBCC CHECKALLOC

•

DBCC CHECKCATALOG

•

DBCC CHECKCONSTRAINTS

•

DBCC CHECKFILEGROUP

•