Permissions for use of the system tables can be controlled by the Database Owner, just like permissions on any other tables. By default, when Adaptive Server is installed, the installmodel script grants select access to “public” (all users) for most system tables and for most fields in the tables. However, no access is given for some system tables, such as systhresholds, and no access is given for certain fields in other system tables. For example, all users, by default, can select all columns of sysobjects except audflags.
To determine the current permissions for a particular system table, execute:
sp_helprotect system_table_name
For example, to check the permissions of systhresholds in your_database, execute:
use your_database go sp_helprotect systhresholds go
The default situation is that no users—including Database Owners—can modify the system tables directly. Instead, the system procedures supplied with Adaptive Server modify the system tables. This helps guarantee integrity.
WARNING! Although does provide a mechanism that allows you to modify system tables, Sybase strongly recommends that you do not do so.
