ALLBASE/SQL Reference Manual (36216-90216)

Chapter 2 105

Using ALLBASE/SQL

Administering a Database

Activities that protect and maintain a DBEnvironment and its databases are collectively

referred to as database administration. Several of the SQL statements are used in the

following database administration activities:

• Security management

• Restructuring

• Space management

• Logging

• Recovery

• DBEnvironment management

• DBEnvironment statistics maintenance

Refer to the ALLBASE/SQL Database Administration Guide for full details on these and

other matters of database administration. That manual provides full information on

SQLUtil, which is the primary tool for DBEnvironment reconﬁguration and backup.

Understanding the System Catalog

The system catalog is a collection of tables and views that contain data about the following:

• Tables and views in a DBEnvironment

• Any indexes, hash structures, constraints, and rules deﬁned for tables

• DBEFiles and DBEFileSets in the DBEnvironment

• Speciﬁc authorities granted to each user

• Programs that can access data in the DBEnvironment

• Current DBEnvironment statistics

• Temporary space for sorts

• Procedures

ALLBASE/SQL uses the system catalog to maintain data integrity and to optimize data

access. The system views are primarily a tool for the DBA. Initially, only the DBA can

access these views. Other users need to be granted SELECT authority by the DBA to

access them. Users without SELECT authority can retrieve descriptions of database objects

they own from the CATALOG views. For information on system and catalog views, refer to

chapter “System Catalog” in the ALLBASE/SQL Database Administration Guide.

When a DBEnvironment is ﬁrst conﬁgured, the information in the system catalog

describes the system tables and views themselves. As database objects are deﬁned, their