DF015: The SET FMTONLY statement is used.

Last modified: May 28, 2025

The topic describes the DF015 T-SQL code analysis rule.

Category

DEPRECATED

Message

The SET FMTONLY statement is used.

Description

The SET FMTONLY statement is deprecated. Use the sp_describe_first_result stored procedure instead.

Noncompliant code example

CREATE OR ALTER PROCEDURE dbo.SelectUserData
AS BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
SELECT * FROM dbo.UserData ud
END;
GO
 
SET FMTONLY ;
GO
EXEC dbo.SelectUserData
GO
SET FMTONLY OFF;
GO
 
SET FMTONLY ON;
GO
SELECT * FROM sys.columns
GO
SET FMTONLY OFF;
GO

Compliant solution

EXEC sp_describe_first_result_set @tsql = N'exec dbo.SelectUserData'
GO
EXEC sp_describe_first_result_set @tsql = N'select * from sys.columns'
GO