FIX: DBCC SHRINKFILE with Empty Option May Not Move Heap and Text Pages

Executing a DBCC SHRINKFILE (data_filename, EMPTYFILE) command on a multifile database with mostly heap or text pages may not empty pages from the first extent of the data file. Hence, the file cannot be dropped after the shrink operation is completed using ALTER DATABASE.

The allocation code sometimes reallocates pages out of the first extent of a file that DBCC SHRINKFILE (data_filename, EMPTYFILE) was trying to clear.

There are two ways to work around this problem:

• If the table is a heap, create a clustered index before executing the DBCC SHRINKFILE (data_filename, EMPTYFILE) command.
• If the table is a heap or contains at least one text or image column, transfer the table to another file group before executing the DBCC SHRINKFILE (data_filename, EMPTYFILE) command.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 7.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 3 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information, contact your primary support provider.