There is a open source stored procedure called sp_grep that allows for you to find database objects based on the DDL/code of their makup. I use this procedure all the time to find objects that meet certain criteria. This is very useful in Database refactoring.
To programmatically open and modify SQL objects you can use the SQLDMO object in any .Net application. Here is some examples of using SQLDMO.
Example: exec sp_grep 'colA='
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
/*********************************************************************
* Stored procedure sp_grep
* SQL Server: Microsoft SQL Server 6.0, 4.21 for Windows NT,
* Microsoft SQL Server 4.2 for OS/2.
* Author: Andrew Zanevsky, AZ Databases, Inc.
* Version/Date: Version 1.1, October 26, 1995
* Description: Searches syscomments table in the current database
* for occurences of a combination of strings.
* Correclty handles cases when a substring begins in
* one row of syscomments and continues in the next.
* Parameters: - @parameter describes the search:
* string1 {operation1 string2} {operation2 string 3} ...
* where - stringN is a string of characters enclosed in
* curly brackets not longer than 80 characters.
* Brackets may be omitted if stringN does not
* contain spaces or characters: +,-,&;
* - operationN is one of the characters: +,-,&.
* Parameter is interpreted as follows:
* 1.Compose the list of all objects where string1 occurs.
* 2.If there is no more operations in the parameter,
* then display the list and stop. Otherwise continue.
* 3.If the next operation is + then add to the list all
* objects where the next string occurs;
* else if the next operation is - then delete from the
* list all objects where the next string occurs;
* else if the next operation is & then delete from the
* list all objects where the next string does not
* occur (leave in the list only those objects where
* the next string occurs);
* 4.Goto step 2.
* Parameter may be up to 255 characters long, and may not
* contain <CarriageReturn> or <LineFeed> characters.
* Please note that operations are applied in the order
* they are used in the parameter string (left to right).
* There is no other priority of executing them. Every
* operation is applied to the list combined as a result
* of all previous operations.
* Number of spaces between words of a string matters in a
* search (e.g. "select *" is not equal to "select *").
* Short or frequently used strings (such as "select") may
* produce a long result set.
*
* - @case: i = insensitive / s = sensitive (default)
* Insensitive search is performed regardless of this parameter
* if SQL Server is set up with case insensitive sort order.
*
* Examples: sp_grep employee
* list all objects where string 'employee' occurs;
* sp_grep employee, i
* list all objects where string 'employee' occurs in
* any case (upper, lower, or mixed), such as
* 'EMPLOYEE', 'Employee', 'employee', etc.;
* sp_grep 'employee&salary+department-trigger'
* list all objects where either both strings 'employee'
* and 'salary' occur or string 'department' occurs, and
* string 'trigger' does not occur;
* sp_grep '{select FirstName + LastName}'
* list all objects where string
* "select FirstName + LastName" occurs;
* sp_grep '{create table}-{drop table}'
* list all objects where tables are created and not
* dropped.
*
**********************************************************************/
-- sp_grep v1.0 03/16/1995, v1.1 10/26/1995
-- Author: Andrew Zanevsky, AZ Databases, Inc.
-- E-mail: zanevsky@azdatabases.com
ALTER proc [dbo].[sp_grep] @parameter varchar(255) = null, @case char(1) = 's'
as
declare @str_no tinyint,
@msg_str_no varchar(3),
@operation char(1),
@string varchar(80),
@oper_pos smallint,
@context varchar(255),
@i tinyint,
@longest tinyint,
@msg varchar(255)
if @parameter is null /* provide instructions */
begin
print 'Execute sp_grep "{string1}operation1{string2}operation2{string3}...", [case]'
print '- stringN is a string of characters up to 80 characters long, '
print ' enclosed in curly brackets. Brackets may be omitted if stringN '
print ' does not contain leading and trailing spaces or characters: +,-,&.'
print '- operationN is one of the characters: +,-,&. Interpreted as or,minus,and.'
print ' Operations are executed from left to right with no priorities.'
print '- case: specify "i" for case insensitive comparison.'
print 'E.g. sp_grep "alpha+{beta gamma}-{delta}&{+++}"'
print ' will search for all objects that have an occurence of string "alpha"'
print ' or string "beta gamma", do not have string "delta", '
print ' and have string "+++".'
return
end
/* Check for <CarriageReturn> or <LineFeed> characters */
if charindex( char(10), @parameter ) > 0 or charindex( char(13), @parameter ) > 0
begin
print 'Parameter string may not contain <CarriageReturn> or <LineFeed> characters.'
return
end
if lower( @case ) = 'i'
select @parameter = lower( ltrim( rtrim( @parameter ) ) )
else
select @parameter = ltrim( rtrim( @parameter ) )
create table #search ( str_no tinyint, operation char(1), string varchar(80), last_obj int )
create table #found_objects ( id int, str_no tinyint )
create table #result ( id int )
/* Parse the parameter string */
select @str_no = 0
while datalength( @parameter ) > 0
begin
/* Get operation */
select @str_no = @str_no + 1, @msg_str_no = rtrim( convert( char(3), @str_no + 1 ) )
if @str_no = 1
select @operation = '+'
else
begin
if substring( @parameter, 1, 1 ) in ( '+', '-', '&' )
select @operation = substring( @parameter, 1, 1 ),
@parameter = ltrim( right( @parameter, datalength( @parameter ) - 1 ) )
else
begin
select @context = rtrim( substring(
@parameter + space( 255 - datalength( @parameter) ), 1, 20 ) )
select @msg = 'Incorrect or missing operation sign before "' + @context + '".'
print @msg
select @msg = 'Search string ' + @msg_str_no + '.'
print @msg
return
end
end
/* Get string */
if datalength( @parameter ) = 0
begin
print 'Missing search string at the end of the parameter.'
select @msg = 'Search string ' + @msg_str_no + '.'
print @msg
return
end
if substring( @parameter, 1, 1 ) = '{'
begin
if charindex( '}', @parameter ) = 0
begin
select @context = rtrim( substring(
@parameter + space( 255 - datalength( @parameter) ), 1, 200 ) )
select @msg = 'Bracket not closed after "' + @context + '".'
print @msg
select @msg = 'Search string ' + @msg_str_no + '.'
print @msg
return
end
if charindex( '}', @parameter ) > 82
begin
select @context = rtrim( substring(
@parameter + space( 255 - datalength( @parameter) ), 2, 20 ) )
select @msg = 'Search string ' + @msg_str_no + ' is longer than 80 characters.'
print @msg
select @msg = 'String begins with "' + @context + '".'
print @msg
return
end
select @string = substring( @parameter, 2, charindex( '}', @parameter ) - 2 ),
@parameter = ltrim( right( @parameter,
datalength( @parameter ) - charindex( '}', @parameter ) ) )
end
else
begin
/* Find the first operation sign */
select @oper_pos = datalength( @parameter ) + 1
if charindex( '+', @parameter ) between 1 and @oper_pos
select @oper_pos = charindex( '+', @parameter )
if charindex( '-', @parameter ) between 1 and @oper_pos
select @oper_pos = charindex( '-', @parameter )
if charindex( '&', @parameter ) between 1 and @oper_pos
select @oper_pos = charindex( '&', @parameter )
if @oper_pos = 1
begin
select @context = rtrim( substring(
@parameter + space( 255 - datalength( @parameter) ), 1, 20 ) )
select @msg = 'Search string ' + @msg_str_no +
' is missing, before "' + @context + '".'
print @msg
return
end
if @oper_pos > 81
begin
select @context = rtrim( substring(
@parameter + space( 255 - datalength( @parameter) ), 1, 20 ) )
select @msg = 'Search string ' + @msg_str_no + ' is longer than 80 characters.'
print @msg
select @msg = 'String begins with "' + @context + '".'
print @msg
return
end
select @string = substring( @parameter, 1, @oper_pos - 1 ),
@parameter = ltrim( right( @parameter,
datalength( @parameter ) - @oper_pos + 1 ) )
end
insert #search values ( @str_no, @operation, @string, 0 )
end
select @longest = max( datalength( string ) ) - 1
from #search
/* ------------------------------------------------------------------ */
/* Search for strings */
if @case = 'i'
begin
insert #found_objects
select a.id, c.str_no
from syscomments a, #search c
where charindex( c.string, lower( a.text ) ) > 0
insert #found_objects
select a.id, c.str_no
from syscomments a, syscomments b, #search c
where a.id = b.id
and a.number = b.number
and a.colid + 1 = b.colid
and charindex( c.string,
lower( right( a.text, @longest ) +
/* space( 255 - datalength( a.text ) ) +*/
substring( b.text, 1, @longest ) ) ) > 0
end
else
begin
insert #found_objects
select a.id, c.str_no
from syscomments a, #search c
where charindex( c.string, a.text ) > 0
insert #found_objects
select a.id, c.str_no
from syscomments a, syscomments b, #search c
where a.id = b.id
and a.number = b.number
and a.colid + 1 = b.colid
and charindex( c.string,
right( a.text, @longest ) +
/* space( 255 - datalength( a.text ) ) +*/
substring( b.text, 1, @longest ) ) > 0
end
/* ------------------------------------------------------------------ */
select distinct str_no, id into #dist_objects from #found_objects
create unique clustered index obj on #dist_objects ( str_no, id )
/* Apply one operation at a time */
select @i = 0
while @i < @str_no
begin
select @i = @i + 1
select @operation = operation from #search where str_no = @i
if @operation = '+'
insert #result
select id
from #dist_objects
where str_no = @i
else if @operation = '-'
delete #result
from #result a, #dist_objects b
where b.str_no = @i
and a.id = b.id
else if @operation = '&'
delete #result
where not exists
( select 1
from #dist_objects b
where b.str_no = @i
and b.id = #result.id )
end
/* Select results */
select distinct id into #dist_result from #result
/* The following select has been borrowed from the sp_help
** system stored procedure, and modified. */
select Name = o.name,
/* Remove 'convert(char(15)' in the following line
** if user names on your server are longer. */
Owner = convert( char(15), user_name(uid) ),
Object_type = substring(v.name + x.name, 1, 16)
from #dist_result d,
sysobjects o,
master.dbo.spt_values v,
master.dbo.spt_values x
where d.id = o.id
/* SQL Server version 6.x uses 15, prior versions use 7 in expression below */
and o.sysstat & ( 7 + 8 * sign( charindex( '6.', @@version ) ) ) = v.number
and v.type = "O"
and x.type = "R"
and o.userstat & -32768 = x.number
order by Object_type desc, Name asc
