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Server configuration: user options

  • Article

Applies to: SQL Server

This article describes how to configure the user options server configuration option in SQL Server using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL. The user options option specifies global defaults for all users. A list of default query processing options is established for the duration of a user's work session. The user options option allows you to change the default values of the SET options (if the server's default settings aren't appropriate).

A user can override these defaults with the SET statement. You can configure user options dynamically for new logins. After you change the setting of user options, new login sessions use the new setting. Current login sessions aren't affected.

Recommendations

The following table lists and describes the configuration values for user options. Not all configuration values are compatible with each other. For example, ANSI_NULL_DFLT_ON and ANSI_NULL_DFLT_OFF can't be set at the same time.

Value Configuration Description
1 DISABLE_DEF_CNST_CHK Controls interim or deferred constraint checking.
2 IMPLICIT_TRANSACTIONS For dblib network library connections, controls whether a transaction is started implicitly when a statement is executed. The IMPLICIT_TRANSACTIONS setting has no effect on ODBC or OLEDB connections.
4 CURSOR_CLOSE_ON_COMMIT Controls behavior of cursors after a commit operation has been performed.
8 ANSI_WARNINGS Controls truncation and NULL in aggregate warnings.
16 ANSI_PADDING Controls padding of fixed-length variables.
32 ANSI_NULLS Controls NULL handling when using equality operators.
64 ARITHABORT Terminates a query when an overflow or divide-by-zero error occurs during query execution.
128 ARITHIGNORE Returns NULL when an overflow or divide-by-zero error occurs during a query.
256 QUOTED_IDENTIFIER Differentiates between single and double quotation marks when evaluating an expression.
512 NOCOUNT Turns off the message returned at the end of each statement that states how many rows were affected.
1024 ANSI_NULL_DFLT_ON Alters the session's behavior to use ANSI compatibility for nullability. New columns defined without explicit nullability are defined to allow nulls.
2048 ANSI_NULL_DFLT_OFF Alters the session's behavior not to use ANSI compatibility for nullability. New columns defined without explicit nullability don't allow nulls.
4096 CONCAT_NULL_YIELDS_NULL Returns NULL when concatenating a NULL value with a string.
8192 NUMERIC_ROUNDABORT Generates an error when a loss of precision occurs in an expression.
16384 XACT_ABORT Rolls back a transaction if a Transact-SQL statement raises a run-time error.

The bit positions in user options are identical to the bit positions in @@OPTIONS. Each connection has its own @@OPTIONS function, which represents the configuration environment. When logging in to an instance of SQL Server, a user receives a default environment that assigns the current user options value to @@OPTIONS. Executing SET statements for user options affects the corresponding value in the session's @@OPTIONS function. All connections created after this setting is changed receive the new value.

Permissions

Execute permissions on sp_configure with no parameters or with only the first parameter are granted to all users by default. To execute sp_configure with both parameters to change a configuration option or to run the RECONFIGURE statement, a user must be granted the ALTER SETTINGS server-level permission. The ALTER SETTINGS permission is implicitly held by the sysadmin and serveradmin fixed server roles.

Use SQL Server Management Studio

  1. In Object Explorer, right-click a server and select Properties.

  2. Select the Connections node.

  3. In the Default connection options box, select one or more attributes to configure the default query-processing options for all connected users.

By default, no user options are configured.

Use Transact-SQL

  1. Connect to the Database Engine.

  2. From the Standard bar, select New Query.

  3. Copy and paste the following example into the query window and select Execute. This example shows how to use sp_configure to configure the user options to change the setting for the ANSI_WARNINGS server option.

    USE master;
GO

EXECUTE sp_configure 'user options', 8;
GO

RECONFIGURE;
GO

Follow up: After you configure the user options configuration option

The setting takes effect immediately without restarting the server.

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