snippetsqlMajor

How to use COLUMNS_UPDATED to check if any of certain columns are updated?

Submitted by: @import:stackexchange-dba·Mar 10, 2026·

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columnsareanycertaincolumns_updatedupdatedhowcheckuse

Problem

I have table with 42 columns and a trigger which should do some stuff when 38 of these columns are updated. So, I need to skip the logic if the rest 4 columns are changed.

I can use UPDATE() function and create one big IF condition, but prefer to do something shorter. Using COLUMNS_UPDATED I can check if all of certain columns are updated?

For example, checking if column 3, 5 and 9 are updated:

IF 
  (
    (SUBSTRING(COLUMNS_UPDATED(),1,1) & 20 = 20)
     AND 
    (SUBSTRING(COLUMNS_UPDATED(),2,1) & 1 = 1) 
  )
    PRINT 'Columns 3, 5 and 9 updated';

So, value 20 for column 3 and 5, and value 1 for column 9 because it is set in the first bit of the second byte. If I change the statement to OR it will check if columns 3 and 5 or column 9 is/are updated?

How can apply OR logic in the context of one byte?

Solution

You can use CHECKSUM() as a fairly simple methodology for comparing actual values to see if they were changed. CHECKSUM() will generate a checksum across a list of passed-in values, of which the number and type are indeterminate. Beware, there is a small chance comparing checksums like this will result in false negatives. If you cannot deal with that, you can use HASHBYTES instead1.

The example below uses an AFTER UPDATE trigger to retain a history of modifications made to the TriggerTest table only if either of the values in the Data1 or Data2 columns change. If Data3 changes, no action is taken.

USE tempdb;
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerTest;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerTest
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
        CONSTRAINT PK_TriggerTest
        PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
        IDENTITY(1,1)
    , Data1 VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2 VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL
    , Data3 DATETIME NOT NULL
);

IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerResult'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerResult;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerResult
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
    , Data1OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data1NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
);

GO
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest_AfterUpdate'), 0) <> 0 
BEGIN
    DROP TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate;
END
GO
CREATE TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate
ON dbo.TriggerTest
AFTER UPDATE
AS 
BEGIN
    INSERT INTO TriggerResult
    (
        TriggerTestID
        , Data1OldVal
        , Data1NewVal
        , Data2OldVal
        , Data2NewVal
    )
    SELECT d.TriggerTestID
        , d.Data1
        , i.Data1
        , d.Data2
        , i.Data2
    FROM inserted i 
        LEFT JOIN deleted d ON i.TriggerTestID = d.TriggerTestID
    WHERE CHECKSUM(i.Data1, i.Data2) <> CHECKSUM(d.Data1, d.Data2);
END
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TriggerTest (Data1, Data2, Data3)
VALUES ('blah', 'foo', GETDATE());

UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest 
SET Data1 = 'blah', Data2 = 'fee' 
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult

If you're insistent on using the COLUMNS_UPDATED() function, you should not hard-code the ordinal value of the columns in question, since the table definition may change, which may invalidate hard-coded value(s). You can calculate what the value should be at runtime using the system tables. Be aware that the COLUMNS_UPDATED() function returns true for the given column bit if the column is modified in ANY row affected by the UPDATE TABLE statement.

USE tempdb;
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerTest;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerTest
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
        CONSTRAINT PK_TriggerTest
        PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
        IDENTITY(1,1)
    , Data1 VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2 VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL
    , Data3 DATETIME NOT NULL
);

IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerResult'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerResult;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerResult
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
    , Data1OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data1NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
);

GO
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest_AfterUpdate'), 0) <> 0 
BEGIN
    DROP TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate;
END
GO
CREATE TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate
ON dbo.TriggerTest
AFTER UPDATE
AS 
BEGIN
    DECLARE @ColumnOrdinalTotal INT = 0;

    SELECT @ColumnOrdinalTotal = @ColumnOrdinalTotal 
        + POWER (
                2 
                , COLUMNPROPERTY(t.object_id,c.name,'ColumnID') - 1
            )
    FROM sys.schemas s
        INNER JOIN sys.tables t ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id
        INNER JOIN sys.columns c ON t.object_id = c.object_id
    WHERE s.name = 'dbo'
        AND t.name = 'TriggerTest'
        AND c.name IN (
            'Data1'
            , 'Data2'
        );

    IF (COLUMNS_UPDATED() & @ColumnOrdinalTotal) > 0
    BEGIN
        INSERT INTO TriggerResult
        (
            TriggerTestID
            , Data1OldVal
            , Data1NewVal
            , Data2OldVal
            , Data2NewVal
        )
        SELECT d.TriggerTestID
            , d.Data1
            , i.Data1
            , d.Data2
            , i.Data2
        FROM inserted i 
            LEFT JOIN deleted d ON i.TriggerTestID = d.TriggerTestID;
    END
END
GO

--this won't result in rows being inserted into the history table
INSERT INTO dbo.TriggerTest (Data1, Data2, Data3)
VALUES ('blah', 'foo', GETDATE());

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult;

--this will insert rows into the history table
UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest 
SET Data1 = 'blah', Data2 = 'fee' 
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult;

```
--this WON'T insert rows into the history table
UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest
SET Data3 = GETDATE()
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM d

Code Snippets

USE tempdb;
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerTest;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerTest
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
        CONSTRAINT PK_TriggerTest
        PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
        IDENTITY(1,1)
    , Data1 VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2 VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL
    , Data3 DATETIME NOT NULL
);

IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerResult'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerResult;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerResult
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
    , Data1OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data1NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
);

GO
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest_AfterUpdate'), 0) <> 0 
BEGIN
    DROP TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate;
END
GO
CREATE TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate
ON dbo.TriggerTest
AFTER UPDATE
AS 
BEGIN
    INSERT INTO TriggerResult
    (
        TriggerTestID
        , Data1OldVal
        , Data1NewVal
        , Data2OldVal
        , Data2NewVal
    )
    SELECT d.TriggerTestID
        , d.Data1
        , i.Data1
        , d.Data2
        , i.Data2
    FROM inserted i 
        LEFT JOIN deleted d ON i.TriggerTestID = d.TriggerTestID
    WHERE CHECKSUM(i.Data1, i.Data2) <> CHECKSUM(d.Data1, d.Data2);
END
GO

INSERT INTO dbo.TriggerTest (Data1, Data2, Data3)
VALUES ('blah', 'foo', GETDATE());

UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest 
SET Data1 = 'blah', Data2 = 'fee' 
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult

USE tempdb;
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerTest;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerTest
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
        CONSTRAINT PK_TriggerTest
        PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED
        IDENTITY(1,1)
    , Data1 VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2 VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL
    , Data3 DATETIME NOT NULL
);

IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerResult'), 0) <> 0
BEGIN
    DROP TABLE dbo.TriggerResult;
END
CREATE TABLE dbo.TriggerResult
(
    TriggerTestID INT NOT NULL
    , Data1OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data1NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2OldVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
    , Data2NewVal VARCHAR(10) NULL
);

GO
IF COALESCE(OBJECT_ID('dbo.TriggerTest_AfterUpdate'), 0) <> 0 
BEGIN
    DROP TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate;
END
GO
CREATE TRIGGER TriggerTest_AfterUpdate
ON dbo.TriggerTest
AFTER UPDATE
AS 
BEGIN
    DECLARE @ColumnOrdinalTotal INT = 0;

    SELECT @ColumnOrdinalTotal = @ColumnOrdinalTotal 
        + POWER (
                2 
                , COLUMNPROPERTY(t.object_id,c.name,'ColumnID') - 1
            )
    FROM sys.schemas s
        INNER JOIN sys.tables t ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id
        INNER JOIN sys.columns c ON t.object_id = c.object_id
    WHERE s.name = 'dbo'
        AND t.name = 'TriggerTest'
        AND c.name IN (
            'Data1'
            , 'Data2'
        );

    IF (COLUMNS_UPDATED() & @ColumnOrdinalTotal) > 0
    BEGIN
        INSERT INTO TriggerResult
        (
            TriggerTestID
            , Data1OldVal
            , Data1NewVal
            , Data2OldVal
            , Data2NewVal
        )
        SELECT d.TriggerTestID
            , d.Data1
            , i.Data1
            , d.Data2
            , i.Data2
        FROM inserted i 
            LEFT JOIN deleted d ON i.TriggerTestID = d.TriggerTestID;
    END
END
GO

--this won't result in rows being inserted into the history table
INSERT INTO dbo.TriggerTest (Data1, Data2, Data3)
VALUES ('blah', 'foo', GETDATE());

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult;

--this will insert rows into the history table
UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest 
SET Data1 = 'blah', Data2 = 'fee' 
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult;

--this WON'T insert rows into the history table
UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest 
SET Data3 = GETDATE()
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult

--this will insert rows into the history table, even though only
--one of the columns was updated
UPDATE dbo.TriggerTest 
SET Data1 = 'blum' 
WHERE TriggerTestID = 1;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerTest;

SELECT *
FROM dbo.TriggerResult;

Context

StackExchange Database Administrators Q#132552, answer score: 20

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