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Understanding TIMESTAMP (ROWVERSION) in SQL Server
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Published:
15 Dec 2008
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Abstract
TIMESTAMP is one of the more useful T-SQL statements in SQL Server. In this article, Abhishek describes the usage of TIMESTAMP, called ROWVERSION in SQL Server, with the help of relevant T-SQL queries and corresponding output along with a detailed description. He also focuses on whether it is related to DATETIME in SQL. He examines the usage of TIMESTAMP using CREATE TABLE, INSERT, and UPDATE commands and also outlines the benefit of it in multi-user table access. He wraps up the article by providing the differences between TIMESTAMP and UNIQUEIDENTIFIER. |
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by Abhishek Kumar Singh
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| Introduction |
I have included TIMESTAMP in this article as it first seems as
if TIMESTAMP is something related to SMALLDATETIME or DATETIME. To be frank, I
was also thinking as if I were a beginner in SQL Server. But in fact, TIMESTAMP
value does not contain any date or time related value. It is not dependent on
system date. In fact, it contains binary format string to denote a version of a
row in table. That is why it is also called ROWVERSION. Also, ROWVERSION is the
keyword in SQL Server which has the same behavior as TIMESTAMP.
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Article Feedback
User Comments
Title:
Understanding TIMESTAMP (ROWVERSION) in SQL Server
Name:
Stuart Steedman
Date:
1/26/2011 4:08:12 AM
Comment:
Thanks, Abhisheck. Good article. I can now see how the timestamp column could be used to reliably filter all new/changed records.
Stu
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Title:
Exact use of timestamp
Name:
Anu
Date:
10/8/2010 7:01:33 AM
Comment:
please tell me when and why tp use timestamp.. Confused a lot..
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Title:
Mr
Name:
tv Krishna Kanth
Date:
7/20/2010 7:33:53 AM
Comment:
To know the latest Timestamp in table you can write a query like "select @@dbts from tblName" .. Yes TimeStamp is datatype which is ofcourse not related to any date & time like data types. here dbtp means data base time stamp you can remember simply with this expansion.. When defining/using a timestamp in a table no need to declare its column name..But the rowversion would ask for the column name eventhough they both are similar in functionality as per my knowledge..
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Title:
Nonsense
Name:
RIG
Date:
4/23/2010 6:43:30 AM
Comment:
"Wikipedia.org defines timestamp in very clear manner, as follows:
A timestamp is a sequence of characters, denoting the date and/or time at which a certain event occurred."
Right. But TIMESTAMP in MS SQL Server has nothing to do with date or time.
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Title:
excellent
Name:
Jeetendra
Date:
4/16/2010 3:52:33 AM
Comment:
This is Excellent. Thanks.
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Title:
good
Name:
saravanan
Date:
1/16/2010 2:20:08 AM
Comment:
good article
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Title:
timestamp problem
Name:
arpizt
Date:
10/29/2009 9:35:55 PM
Comment:
"UPDATE table SET field = current_timestamp where (field=1)"
Error msg this field cannot been update.
Thanks.
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Title:
arpizt@gmail.com
Name:
abhishek
Date:
10/28/2009 6:41:21 PM
Comment:
arpizt@gmail.com can you post your query here?
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Title:
timestamp problem
Name:
arpizt@gmail.com
Date:
10/27/2009 5:53:58 AM
Comment:
Hi,
I try to run the insert sql, but got this error ("Column or expression 'PaymentDate' cannot be updated." Why? How to overcome this problem?
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Title:
Abhishek Your Time Stamp Aarticle too good
Name:
Gbbs Mith
Date:
6/13/2009 5:02:18 AM
Comment:
The article is very good because it was justified clearly time and datetime data type. Hope more such article
Thanks
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Title:
Beginner
Name:
nagarajan
Date:
3/17/2009 9:47:06 AM
Comment:
excellent artice about TIMESTAMP.
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Title:
good
Name:
Jen
Date:
12/18/2008 4:57:37 AM
Comment:
good for quick walkthrough.
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