Question

I have a strange problem here, I want to create an emtpy trigger:

SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO

CREATE TRIGGER dbo.TestTrigger 
   ON  _TestDB.dbo.test
   AFTER UPDATE
AS 
BEGIN
    SET NOCOUNT ON;
END
GO

If I execute this within SSMS it works perfectly, but if I create a new SQL file within Visual Studio and click “Execute SQL”, then I just get an error message:

Msg 2108, Level 15, State 1, Procedure TestTrigger, Line 13 Erstellen
Trigger kann nicht für ‘_TestDB.dbo.test’ ausgeführt werden, da sich
das Ziel nicht in der aktuellen Datenbank befindet.

Translation:

Msg 2108, Level 15, State 1, Procedure TestTrigger, Line 13 Create
Trigger cannot be executed for ‘_TestDB.dbo.test’, because
the target doesn’t exist in the current database.

SSMS and VS2010 are both connected to the same databaseserver as the same user.

A simple Select * From _TestDB.dbo.test does work within Visual Studio, so the connection to the database should work. But why is it not working for Create Trigger?

Answer 1

As the error implies, triggers must be created in the same database as the underlying target table.

So ensure that you create the trigger in the same DB (_TestDB) as your dbo.test table

USE _TestDB
GO

SET ANSI_NULLS ON GO 
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON 
GO  

CREATE TRIGGER dbo.TestTrigger     
ON  dbo.test    
AFTER UPDATE AS  
BEGIN     
  SET NOCOUNT ON; 
END 
GO 

Edit : Just to clarify – a connection is at server instance level, not at database level. By qualifying your table as _TestDB.dbo.test you will be able to access the table even if your current database (catalogue) is currently pointing to a different database.

Edit : OIC – yes, it means that your current db isn’t “_TestDB”. You’ve also picked up an inconsistency in SQL’s DDL execution. Most of the DDL commands can be successfully executed from a remote database (Including CREATE INDEX), but for some reason, not a trigger. The following highlights the inconsistency (SQL 2008 Express)

use master
go

CREATE DATABASE bob
GO

-- DB_NAME() = master
CREATE TABLE bob.dbo.SomeTable
(
    SomeTableId INT NOT NULL,
    AnotherField VARCHAR(50) NULL
)
GO -- Success

-- DB_NAME() = master
CREATE INDEX IX1_SomeTable on bob.dbo.SomeTable(SomeTableId)
GO -- Success. Note that the index is actually created in bob, not master of course

-- DB_NAME() = master
ALTER TABLE bob.dbo.SomeTable ADD CONSTRAINT PK_SomeTableId PRIMARY KEY(SomeTableId)
GO -- Success

-- DB_NAME() = master
CREATE TRIGGER bob.dbo.SomeTableTrigger -- 'CREATE/ALTER TRIGGER' does not allow specifying the database name as a prefix to the object name.
    ON  bob.dbo.SomeTable
    AFTER UPDATE
AS
    BEGIN
        PRINT 'Trigger called'
    END
GO

-- DB_NAME() = master - this is your scenario - 
CREATE TRIGGER dbo.SomeTableTrigger -- Cannot create trigger on 'bob.dbo.SomeTable' as the target is not in the current database.
    ON  bob.dbo.SomeTable
    AFTER UPDATE
AS
    BEGIN
        PRINT 'Trigger called'
    END
GO

USE BOB
GO

-- DB_NAME() = bob
CREATE TRIGGER dbo.SomeTableTrigger -- Success
    ON  bob.dbo.SomeTable
    AFTER UPDATE
AS
    BEGIN
        PRINT 'Trigger called'
    END
GO