compatibility level

  • Trying to run a report in an EDI application called eVision Workbench. It uses an ODBC connection to our SQL Server 2005 database. I get a pop-up message which says "The query uses non-ANSI outer-join operators. To run this query without modification, please set the compatibility level for current database to 80 or lower, using stored procedur"

    And that's where it cuts off.

    So we asked eVision for help, and they said:

    "The message is telling you to turn down the compatibility level of the database. You are probably using SQL2005 and if you want to use this report you need to set the database to SQL 2000(80) in the SQL Server manager."

    I'm very hesitant to do something like this. What kinds of potential harm could come of this, on our other databases, if I were to reduce our compatibility level?

    Can this be done for just one of our many databases?

    How is it done?

  • Yes, you can modify one of the databases without affecting the others. Easiest way to do it is to go to the Options pannel in the Properties of the database and change it there. (You get to that by right-clicking the database in Management Studio.)

    HOWEVER, changing the compatibility of a database isn't something to do lightly. If any of the code in the database relies on any of the new features in SQL 2005, it will generally start erroring out. Any CLR procs or functions will stop working. Some Enterprise level features could result in tables that don't function correctly.

    It's a big deal. Their support suggesting this without warning you about the consequences is highly inappropriate.

    Make a copy of the database in a test environment, change the compatibility level to 80 (from 90), and then test it extremely thoroughly. Put it through all of its paces.

    If anything in it doesn't work, talk to their support about it. Ask them when they're planning on upgrading their software to work with a database that's actually in it's primary support cycle. (Mainstream support for SQL 2000 ended in April last year.) Ask them about when they plan to upgrade to ANSI compliant code.

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