In SQL Server 2005, can I do a cascade delete without setting the property on my tables?

Question

Combining your advice and a script I found online, I made a procedure that will produce SQL you can run to perform a cascaded delete regardless of ON DELETE CASCADE. It was probably a big waste of time, but I had a good time writing it. An advantage of doing it this way is, you can put a GO statement between each line, and it doesn't have to be one big transaction. The original was a recursive procedure; this one unrolls the recursion into a stack table.

create procedure usp_delete_cascade (
    @base_table_name varchar(200), @base_criteria nvarchar(1000)
)
as begin
    -- Adapted from http://www.sqlteam.com/article/performing-a-cascade-delete-in-sql-server-7
    -- Expects the name of a table, and a conditional for selecting rows
    -- within that table that you want deleted.
    -- Produces SQL that, when run, deletes all table rows referencing the ones
    -- you initially selected, cascading into any number of tables,
    -- without the need for "ON DELETE CASCADE".
    -- Does not appear to work with self-referencing tables, but it will
    -- delete everything beneath them.
    -- To make it easy on the server, put a "GO" statement between each line.

    declare @to_delete table (
        id int identity(1, 1) primary key not null,
        criteria nvarchar(1000) not null,
        table_name varchar(200) not null,
        processed bit not null,
        delete_sql varchar(1000)
    )

    insert into @to_delete (criteria, table_name, processed) values (@base_criteria, @base_table_name, 0)

    declare @id int, @criteria nvarchar(1000), @table_name varchar(200)
    while exists(select 1 from @to_delete where processed = 0) begin
        select top 1 @id = id, @criteria = criteria, @table_name = table_name from @to_delete where processed = 0 order by id desc

        insert into @to_delete (criteria, table_name, processed)
            select referencing_column.name + ' in (select [' + referenced_column.name + '] from [' + @table_name +'] where ' + @criteria + ')',
                referencing_table.name,
                0
            from  sys.foreign_key_columns fk
                inner join sys.columns referencing_column on fk.parent_object_id = referencing_column.object_id 
                    and fk.parent_column_id = referencing_column.column_id 
                inner join  sys.columns referenced_column on fk.referenced_object_id = referenced_column.object_id 
                    and fk.referenced_column_id = referenced_column.column_id 
                inner join  sys.objects referencing_table on fk.parent_object_id = referencing_table.object_id 
                inner join  sys.objects referenced_table on fk.referenced_object_id = referenced_table.object_id 
                inner join  sys.objects constraint_object on fk.constraint_object_id = constraint_object.object_id
            where referenced_table.name = @table_name
                and referencing_table.name != referenced_table.name

        update @to_delete set
            processed = 1
        where id = @id
    end

    select 'print ''deleting from ' + table_name + '...''; delete from [' + table_name + '] where ' + criteria from @to_delete order by id desc
end

exec usp_delete_cascade 'root_table_name', 'id = 123'

Here's a version of the accepted answer optimised for sparsely populated data models. It checks for the existence of data in a FK chain before adding it to the deletion list. I use it to clean up test data.

Don't use it in an active transactional db- it will hold locks way too long.

/*
-- ============================================================================
-- Purpose: Performs a cascading hard-delete.
--          Not for use on an active transactional database- it holds locks for too long.
--          (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/116968/in-sql-server-2005-can-i-do-a-cascade-delete-without-setting-the-property-on-my)
-- eg:
exec dbo.hp_Common_Delete 'tblConsumer', 'Surname = ''TestDxOverdueOneReviewWm''', 1
-- ============================================================================
*/
create proc [dbo].[hp_Common_Delete]
(
    @TableName sysname, 
    @Where nvarchar(4000),  -- Shouldn't include 'where' keyword, e.g. Surname = 'smith', NOT where Surname = 'smith'
    @IsDebug bit = 0
)
as
set nocount on

begin try
    -- Prepare tables to store deletion criteria.  
    -- #tmp_to_delete stores criteria that is tested for results before being added to #to_delete
    create table #to_delete
    (
        id int identity(1, 1) primary key not null,
        criteria nvarchar(4000) not null,
        table_name sysname not null,
        processed bit not null default(0)
    )
    create table #tmp_to_delete 
    (
        id int primary key identity(1,1), 
        criteria nvarchar(4000) not null, 
        table_name sysname not null
    )

    -- Open a transaction (it'll be a long one- don't use this on production!)
    -- We need a transaction around criteria generation because we only 
    -- retain criteria that has rows in the db, and we don't want that to change under us.
    begin tran
        -- If the top-level table meets the deletion criteria, add it
        declare @Sql nvarchar(4000)
        set @Sql = 'if exists(select top(1) * from ' + @TableName + ' where ' + @Where + ') 
            insert #to_delete (criteria, table_name) values (''' + replace(@Where, '''', '''''') + ''', ''' + @TableName + ''')'
        exec (@Sql)

        -- Loop over deletion table, walking foreign keys to generate delete targets
        declare @id int, @tmp_id int, @criteria nvarchar(4000), @new_criteria nvarchar(4000), @table_name sysname, @new_table_name sysname
        while exists(select 1 from #to_delete where processed = 0) 
        begin
            -- Grab table/criteria to work on
            select  top(1) @id = id, 
                    @criteria = criteria, 
                    @table_name = table_name 
            from    #to_delete 
            where   processed = 0 
            order by id desc

            -- Insert all immediate child tables into a temp table for processing
            insert  #tmp_to_delete
            select  referencing_column.name + ' in (select [' + referenced_column.name + '] from [' + @table_name +'] where ' + @criteria + ')',
                    referencing_table.name
            from  sys.foreign_key_columns fk
                    inner join sys.columns referencing_column on fk.parent_object_id = referencing_column.object_id 
                            and fk.parent_column_id = referencing_column.column_id 
                    inner join  sys.columns referenced_column on fk.referenced_object_id = referenced_column.object_id 
                            and fk.referenced_column_id = referenced_column.column_id 
                    inner join  sys.objects referencing_table on fk.parent_object_id = referencing_table.object_id 
                    inner join  sys.objects referenced_table on fk.referenced_object_id = referenced_table.object_id 
                    inner join  sys.objects constraint_object on fk.constraint_object_id = constraint_object.object_id
            where referenced_table.name = @table_name
                    and referencing_table.name != referenced_table.name

            -- Loop on child table criteria, and insert them into delete table if they have records in the db
            select @tmp_id = max(id) from #tmp_to_delete
            while (@tmp_id >= 1)
            begin
                select @new_criteria = criteria, @new_table_name = table_name from #tmp_to_delete where id = @tmp_id
                set @Sql = 'if exists(select top(1) * from ' + @new_table_name + ' where ' + @new_criteria + ') 
                    insert #to_delete (criteria, table_name) values (''' + replace(@new_criteria, '''', '''''') + ''', ''' + @new_table_name + ''')'
                exec (@Sql)

                set @tmp_id = @tmp_id - 1
            end
            truncate table #tmp_to_delete

            -- Move to next record
            update  #to_delete 
            set     processed = 1
            where   id = @id
        end

        -- We have a list of all tables requiring deletion.  Actually delete now.
        select @id = max(id) from #to_delete 
        while (@id >= 1)
        begin
            select @criteria = criteria, @table_name = table_name from #to_delete where id = @id
            set @Sql = 'delete from [' + @table_name + '] where ' + @criteria
            if (@IsDebug = 1) print @Sql
            exec (@Sql)

            -- Next record
            set @id = @id - 1
        end
    commit
end try

begin catch
    -- Any error results in a rollback of the entire job
    if (@@trancount > 0) rollback

    declare @message nvarchar(2047), @errorProcedure nvarchar(126), @errorMessage nvarchar(2048), @errorNumber int, @errorSeverity int, @errorState int, @errorLine int
    select  @errorProcedure = isnull(error_procedure(), N'hp_Common_Delete'), 
            @errorMessage = isnull(error_message(), N'hp_Common_Delete unable to determine error message'), 
            @errorNumber = error_number(), @errorSeverity = error_severity(), @errorState = error_state(), @errorLine = error_line()

    -- Prepare error information as it would be output in SQL Mgt Studio
    declare @event nvarchar(2047)
    select  @event =    'Msg ' + isnull(cast(@errorNumber as varchar), 'null') + 
                        ', Level ' + isnull(cast(@errorSeverity as varchar), 'null') + 
                        ', State ' + isnull(cast(@errorState as varchar), 'null') + 
                        ', Procedure ' + isnull(@errorProcedure, 'null') + 
                        ', Line ' + isnull(cast(@errorLine as varchar), 'null') + 
                        ': ' + isnull(@errorMessage, '@ErrorMessage null')
    print   @event

    -- Re-raise error to ensure admin/job runners understand there was a failure
    raiserror(@errorMessage, @errorSeverity, @errorState)
end catch

Unless you want to maintain all related queries as proposed by Chris, the ON DELETE CASCADE is by far the quickest and the most direct solution. And if you don't want it to be permanent, why don't you have some T-SQL code that will switch this option on and off like here

1. remove the original Tbl_A_MyFK constraint (without the ON DELETE CASCADE)

   ALTER TABLE Tbl_A DROP CONSTRAINT Tbl_A_MyFK

2. set the constraint Tbl_A_MyFK with the ON DELETE CASCADE

   ALTER TABLE Tbl_A ADD CONSTRAINT Tbl_A_MyFK FOREIGN KEY (MyFK) REFERENCES Tbl_B(Column) ON DELETE CASCADE

3. Here you can do your delete

   DELETE FROM Tbl_A WHERE ...

4. drop your constraint Tbl_A_MyFK

   ALTER TABLE Tbl_A DROP CONSTRAINT Tbl_A_MyFK

5. set the constraint Tbl_A_MyFK without the ON DELETE CASCADE

   ALTER TABLE Tbl_A ADD CONSTRAINT Tbl_A_MyFK FOREIGN KEY (MyFK) REFERENCES (Tbl_B)

Go into SQL Server Management Studio and right-click the database. Select Tasks->Generate Scripts. Click Next twice. On the Options window choose set it to generate CREATE statements only, and put everything to False except for the Foreign Keys. Click Next. Select Tables and Click Next again. Click the "Select All" button and click Next then Finish and send the script to your choice of a query window or file (don't use the clipboard, since it might be a big script). Now remove all of the script that adds the tables and you should be left with a script to create your foreign keys.

Make a copy of that script because it is how you'll restore your database to its current state. Use a search and replace to add the ON DELETE CASCADE to the end of each constraint. This might vary depending on how your FKs are currently set up and you might need to do some manual editing.

Repeat the script generation, but this time set it to generate DROP statements only. Be sure to manually remove the table drops that are generated. Run the drops, then run your edited creates to make them all cascade on delete. Do your deletes, run the drop script again and then run the script that you saved off at the start.

Also - MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DB FIRST! Even if it's just a dev database, it will save you some headache if part of the script isn't quite right.

Hope this helps!

BTW - you should definitely do some testing with your full test data as another poster suggested, but I can see why you might not need that for initial development. Just don't forget to include that as part of QA at some point.