sp_MSforeachdb: only include results from databases with results

Question

I'm running the below stored procedure sp_MSforeachdb with a simple command. My question is how to limit the result to show only the databases that have at least 1 record satisfying the command:

Here's my stored procedure:

EXECUTE master.sys.sp_MSforeachdb 'USE [?]; 

IF (EXISTS (SELECT * 
                 FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
                 WHERE TABLE_NAME = ''Tabs''))
BEGIN

SELECT ''?'' as dbname,T.TabName, T.TabPath
FROM Tabs T
WHERE T.TabID IN (

SELECT Distinct TM.TabID
FROM TabModules TM
WHERE mID IN (
  ...
  )

)
ORDER BY T.TabName
END
'

Any ideas how I can modify the sp so that it doesn't display the databases that have empty results (see image)?

Answer 1

Well, first, stop using sp_MSforEachDb. Oh, the problems (if you want proof, see here).

How about:

DECLARE @cmd NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'', @sql NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'';

SELECT @cmd += N'IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM '
  + QUOTENAME(name) + '.sys.tables WHERE name = N''Tabs'')
  SET @sql += N''UNION ALL 
    SELECT ''''' + name + ''''',T.TabName
    FROM ' + QUOTENAME(name) + '.dbo.Tabs AS T
    WHERE EXISTS 
    (
      SELECT 1 FROM ' + QUOTENAME(name) + '.dbo.TabModules AS TM
        WHERE TM.TabID = T.TabID
        AND TM.mID IN -- this should probably be exists too
        ( 
          ...
        )
    )
'''
FROM sys.databases 
  WHERE state = 0 -- assume you only want online databases
  AND database_id > 4; -- assume you don't want system dbs

EXEC sp_executesql @cmd, N'@sql NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT', @sql OUTPUT;

SET @sql = STUFF(@sql, 1, 10, '') + N' ORDER BY TabName;';   

PRINT @sql; -- this will appear truncated, but trust me, it is not truncated
-- EXEC sp_executesql @sql;

If you really want some unknown, arbitrary number of separate resultsets, the change is simple.

DECLARE @cmd NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'', @sql NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'';

SELECT @cmd += N'IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM '
  + QUOTENAME(name) + '.sys.tables WHERE name = N''Tabs'')
  SET @sql += N''SELECT ''''' + name + ''''',T.TabName
    FROM ' + QUOTENAME(name) + '.dbo.Tabs AS T
    WHERE EXISTS 
    (
      SELECT 1 FROM ' + QUOTENAME(name) + '.dbo.TabModules AS TM
        WHERE TM.TabID = T.TabID
        AND TM.mID IN -- this should probably be exists too
        ( 
          ...
        )
    )
 ORDER BY T.TabName;
 '';'
FROM sys.databases 
  WHERE state = 0 -- assume you only want online databases
  --AND database_id > 4; -- assume you don't want system dbs

EXEC sp_executesql @cmd, N'@sql NVARCHAR(MAX) OUTPUT', @sql OUTPUT;

PRINT @sql; -- this will appear truncated, but trust me, it is not truncated
-- EXEC sp_executesql @sql;

Answer 2

You basically need another IF to only run the select if data exists. Here's what i did to test.

On DB1:

create table mytesttable(a int)
insert mytesttable values(1)

On DB2:

create table mytesttable(a int)

So you want DB1 to return results, but DB2 not to. you can use the following sql:

EXECUTE master.sys.sp_MSforeachdb 'USE [?]; 

IF (EXISTS (SELECT * 
             FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
             WHERE TABLE_NAME = ''mytesttable''))
BEGIN

IF EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM mytesttable) BEGIN
    SELECT ''?'' as dbname,T.A
    FROM mytesttable AS T
END
END
'

This only returns: db1, 1