SQL/MX 2.x Database and Application Migration Guide (G06.23+, H06.04+, J06.03+)
Converting an SQL/MP Database to SQL/MX Tables
HP NonStop SQL/MX Database and Application Migration Guide—540435-005
11-5
System Catalogs and Metadata
System Catalogs and Metadata
In NonStop SQL/MP, the metadata is a combination of system catalog metadata and 
user catalog metadata. NonStop SQL/MP creates the system catalog when you issue 
the CREATE SYSTEM CATALOG command, in whatever subvolume you specify. The 
default is $SYSTEM.SQL. NonStop SQL/MP creates user catalogs when you issue the 
CREATE CATALOG command in the specified subvolume.
Each node on which NonStop SQL/MP is installed has one system catalog and one or 
more user catalogs. Each table, view, index, partition, collation, or catalog table located 
on a node must be described in a catalog on the same node. Normally, SQL programs 
are also registered in a catalog. 
SQL/MP metadata, also called the Data Dictionary, is organized by disk. It consists of 
all the catalogs on a network and labels for each file on the volume. The label includes 
the name of the object, the name of the catalog that describes the object, and other 
information about the file. For more information, see the 
SQL/MP Reference Manual.
In NonStop SQL/MX, the system catalog is NONSTOP_SQLMX_
nodename. SQL/MX 
metadata is organized within these system schemas:
A definition schema resides in the location that you specify when creating the catalog. 
There is one definition schema per catalog. The remaining system schemas reside in 
the location specified when NonStop SQL/MX was installed. There is only one of each 
of these types of system schemas per node.
In releases earlier than SQL/MX Release 2.0, such as SQL/MX Release 1.8, NonStop 
SQL/MX uses a different table scheme for metadata in which the metadata resides in 
SQL/MP tables registered in the SQL/MP catalog. For SQL/MX Release 2.x, metadata 
resides in SQL/MX metadata tables. To move metadata from SQL/MX Release 1.8 to 
SQL/MX Release 2.x, use the 
migrate utility. For more information, see Section 6, 
Migrating SQL/MP Metadata From SQL/MX Release 1.8 to SQL/MX Release 2.x.
SYSTEM_SCHEMA System schema tables that list information such as 
catalogs and schemas available on the node.
DEFINITION_SCHEMA_
VERSION_
versnum 
Definition schema tables that list information such as 
columns in tables, constraints, partitions, views, 
procedures, and so on in a catalog.
SYSTEM_DEFAULTS_
SCHEMA
User-provided system defaults for the node. 
MXCS_SCHEMA MXCS subsystem data source and governing 
information for the node.
SYSTEM_SQLJ_SCHEMA System schema that contains only the stored 
procedure VALIDATEROUTINE, which is for internal 
use.










