Question

I have a load of tables all with the same 2 datetime columns (lastModDate, dateAdded).
I am wondering if I can set up global Insert Update trigger for these tables to set the datetime values. Or if not, what approaches are there?

Any pointers much appreciated

Answer 1

You can use DEFAULT values for the inserts (dateAdded) and a TABLE trigger for the UPDATE.

Something like

CREATE TABLE MyTable (
        ID INT,
        Val VARCHAR(10),
        lastModDate DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, 
        dateAdded DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
)
GO

CREATE TRIGGER MyTableUpdate ON MyTable
FOR UPDATE
AS
UPDATE  MyTable
SET     lastModDate = CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
FROM    MyTable mt INNER JOIN
        inserted i ON mt.ID = i.ID
GO

INSERT INTO MyTable (ID, Val) SELECT 1, 'A'
GO

SELECT *
FROM MyTable
GO

UPDATE MyTable
SET Val = 'B' 
WHERE ID = 1
GO

SELECT *
FROM MyTable
GO

DROP TABLE MyTable
GO