Syntax:
ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME}
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL}
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES
Example:
ALTER TABLE SomeTable
ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.
Notes:
Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol
then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6
Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES
is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL
, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES
or not.
How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable
and do not Specify SomeCol
's value, then it will Default to 0
.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol
's value as NULL
(and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL
will be inserted as the Value.
Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.
In most cases connection pooling problems are related to connection leaks. Your application probably doesn't close its database connections correctly and consistently. When you leave connections open, they remain blocked until the .NET garbage collector closes them for you by calling their Finalize()
method.
You want to make sure that you are really closing the connection. For example the following code will cause a connection leak, if the code between .Open
and Close
throws an exception:
var connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString);
connection.Open();
// some code
connection.Close();
The correct way would be this:
var connection = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString);
try
{
connection.Open();
someCall (connection);
}
finally
{
connection.Close();
}
or
using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
{
connection.Open();
someCall(connection);
}
When your function returns a connection from a class method make sure you cache it locally and call its Close
method. You'll leak a connection using this code for example:
var command = new OleDbCommand(someUpdateQuery, getConnection());
result = command.ExecuteNonQuery();
connection().Close();
The connection returned from the first call to getConnection()
is not being closed. Instead of closing your connection, this line creates a new one and tries to close it.
If you use SqlDataReader
or a OleDbDataReader
, close them. Even though closing the connection itself seems to do the trick, put in the extra effort to close your data reader objects explicitly when you use them.
This article "Why Does a Connection Pool Overflow?" from MSDN/SQL Magazine explains a lot of details and suggests some debugging strategies:
- Run
sp_who
or sp_who2
. These system stored procedures return information from the sysprocesses
system table that shows the status of and information about all working processes. Generally, you'll see one server process ID (SPID) per connection. If you named your connection by using the Application Name argument in the connection string, your working connections will be easy to find.
- Use SQL Server Profiler with the SQLProfiler
TSQL_Replay
template to trace open connections. If you're familiar with Profiler, this method is easier than polling by using sp_who.
- Use the Performance Monitor to monitor the pools and connections. I discuss this method in a moment.
- Monitor performance counters in code. You can monitor the health of your connection pool and the number of established connections by using routines to extract the counters or by using the new .NET PerformanceCounter controls.
Best Answer
Is the database held remotely? - Have you checked firewall settings...?
The error is what it says it is...it's timed out trying to connect.
Make sure you can connect via other means (SQL Management Studio, the app itself). Check the connection string, even try copying the database locally and scripting it that way.