SQL Server中FMTONLY的全称是什么？FMT代表什么含义？

Hey there! Great question about SET FMTONLY—I’ve scratched my head over this shorthand too back when I was first digging into SQL Server stored procedures.

FMT here is the abbreviation for Format.

The SET FMTONLY ON command’s whole purpose is to return just the format of a query or stored procedure’s result set (think column names, data types, and their lengths) without actually executing the underlying logic. It’s a handy tool when you need metadata about what a procedure outputs without triggering any side effects—like modifying data, running expensive computations, or hitting external resources.

While the official SQL Server docs don’t explicitly spell out the abbreviation, the link to what the command does is pretty clear: it’s all about the result set’s format, not the actual data rows.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者BrunoMartinsPro