dbcc shrinkdatabase vs dbcc shrinkfile

Hi,

First off, i'm new to SQL but i'm kind of confused on the difference between these two commands.

To all you gurus out there, please clarify this for me.. From what i'm reading from Microsoft, dbcc shrinkfile 'Shrinks the size of the specified data file or log file for the related database'. dbcc shrinkdatabase 'Shrinks the size of the data files in the specified database'.

So would i use dbcc shrinkfile for TX log files only and dbcc shrinkdatabase for db files? The dbcc shrinkdatase seems self explanatory but doesn't dbcc shrinkfile perform the same tasks?

Thanks

quote: So would i use dbcc shrinkfile for TX log files only and dbcc shrinkdatabase for db files?

Shrinkdatabase shrinks the entire database. Entire database refers both log and data files.
Shrinkfile too shrinks data files and logfiles but individually. What if you want to just free up some space over a particular drive? you can use Shrinkfile over shrinkdatabase

Thanks,
Ram

"It is easy to write code for a spec and walk in water, provided, both are freezed..."

dbcc shrinkfile is preferable, because you have more control over it. You can specify a target size you want to shrink the file to (as opposed to a target percent with shrinkdatabase).

Shrinking data files should be avoided if possible as it causes fragmentation as the data is moved around to free up contiguous free space to delete. you should only do it if you have a very big chunk of free space you need to get rid of.

Understood. Thanks to you all for your response.

quote:Originally posted by thomas

dbcc shrinkfile is preferable, because you have more control over it. You can specify a target size you want to shrink the file to (as opposed to a target percent with shrinkdatabase).

Shrinking data files should be avoided if possible as it causes fragmentation as the data is moved around to free up contiguous free space to delete. you should only do it if you have a very big chunk of free space you need to get rid of.

How do i know if i have a very BIG chunk of free space? i mean, how do i know if the data file can free up big space.