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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-24T20:56:37+00:00

I have a utility which: grabs sql commands from a flat text file executes

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I have a utility which:

  1. grabs sql commands from a flat text file
  2. executes them sequentially against SQL Server located on the same machine
  3. and reports an error if an UPDATE command affects ZERO ROWS (there should never be an update command in this file that doesn’t affect a record, hence it being recorded as an error)

The utility also logs any failed commands.

Yet the final data in the database seems to be wrong/stale, even though my utility is reporting no failed updates and no failed commands.

I know the first and most obvious culprit is some kind of logic or runtime error in my programming of the utility itself, but I just need to know of it’s THEORETICALLY possible for SQL Server to report that at least one row was affected and yet no apply the change.

If it helps, the utility always seems to correctly execute the same number of commands and the final stale/wrong data is always the same i.e. it seems to correctly execute a certain number of commands that are being successfully queried against the database, then failing.

Thanks.

EDIT:

I should also note that this utility is exhibiting this behavior across 4 different production servers each with their own dedicated local database server, and that these are beefy machines with 8-16 GB RAM each that are managed by a professional sysadmin.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Based on what you say…

    It is possible for the “xx rows affected” to be misleading if you have a trigger firing. You may be reading the count from the trigger. If so, add SET NOCOUNT ON to the trigger

    Alternatively, the data is the same, so you actually do dummy update with the same values. Add a WHERE clause to test for differences for example.

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