I am not sure what bit of the SHRINKFILE processing causes it to fail after the EMPTYFILE keyword is used, but fail it does. Even if you issue a SHRINKFILE ... EMPTYFILE and cancel the command my recollection is that all subsequent SHRINKFILES will quickly fail until the file gets reopened.
This means that cancelling a SHRINKFILE ... EMPTYFILE will leave the file not empty but unshrinkable until it is reopened. After it is reopened you can issue a new SHRINKFILE to clear out more data.
Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.
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