How can I convert a key in a SQL Server deadlock report to the value?

Question

I have a deadlock report that tells me that there was a conflict involving

waitresource="KEY: 9:72057632651542528 (543066506c7c)"

and I can see this:

<keylock hobtid="72057632651542528" dbid="9" objectname="MyDatabase.MySchema.MyTable" indexname="MyPrimaryKeyIndex" id="locka8c6f4100" mode="X" associatedObjectId="72057632651542528">

within the <resource-list> element.

I want to be able to find the actual value for the key (id = 12345, for example). What SQL statement would I need to use to obtain that information?

Answer 1

The answers from @Kin, @AaronBertrand, and @DBAFromTheCold are great and were very helpful. One important piece of info I found during testing that the other answers left out is that you need to use the index that is returned from sys.partitions for the given HOBT_ID when looking up the %%lockres%% (via an index query hint). This index is not always the PK or clustered index.

For example:

--Sometimes this does not return the correct results.
SELECT lockResKey = %%lockres%% ,* 
FROM [MyDB].[dbo].[myTable]  
WHERE %%lockres%% = @lockres
;
--But if you add the index query hint, it does return the correct results
SELECT lockResKey = %%lockres%% ,* 
FROM [MyDB].[dbo].[myTable] WITH(NOLOCK INDEX([IX_MyTable_NonClustered_index]))  
WHERE %%lockres%% = @lockres
;

Here is an example script modified using pieces from each of these answers.

declare @keyValue varchar(256);
SET @keyValue = 'KEY: 5:72057598157127680 (92d211c2a131)' --Output from deadlock graph: process-list/process[waitresource] -- CHANGE HERE !
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Should not have to change anything below this line: 
declare @lockres nvarchar(255), @hobbitID bigint, @dbid int, @databaseName sysname;
--.............................................
--PARSE @keyValue parts:
SELECT @dbid = LTRIM(SUBSTRING(@keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1) - (CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1) ));
SELECT @hobbitID = convert(bigint, RTRIM(SUBSTRING(@keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1) + 1, CHARINDEX('(', @keyValue) - CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1) - 1)));
SELECT @lockRes = RTRIM(SUBSTRING(@keyValue, CHARINDEX('(', @keyValue) + 0, CHARINDEX(')', @keyValue) - CHARINDEX('(', @keyValue) + 1));
--.............................................
--Validate DB name prior to running dynamic SQL
SELECT @databaseName = db_name(@dbid);  
IF not exists(select * from sys.databases d where d.name = @databaseName)
BEGIN
    RAISERROR(N'Database %s was not found.', 16, 1, @databaseName);
    RETURN;
END

declare @objectName sysname, @indexName sysname, @schemaName sysname;
declare @ObjectLookupSQL as nvarchar(max) = '
SELECT @objectName = o.name, @indexName = i.name, @schemaName = OBJECT_SCHEMA_NAME(p.object_id, @dbid)
FROM ' + quotename(@databaseName) + '.sys.partitions p
JOIN ' + quotename(@databaseName) + '.sys.indexes i ON p.index_id = i.index_id AND p.[object_id] = i.[object_id]
JOIN ' + quotename(@databaseName)+ '.sys.objects o on o.object_id = i.object_id
WHERE hobt_id = @hobbitID'
;
--print @ObjectLookupSQL
--Get object and index names
exec sp_executesql @ObjectLookupSQL
    ,N'@dbid int, @hobbitID bigint, @objectName sysname OUTPUT, @indexName sysname OUTPUT, @schemaName sysname OUTPUT'
    ,@dbid = @dbid
    ,@hobbitID = @hobbitID
    ,@objectName = @objectName output
    ,@indexName = @indexName output
    ,@schemaName = @schemaName output
;

DECLARE @fullObjectName nvarchar(512) = quotename(@databaseName) + '.' + quotename(@schemaName) + '.' + quotename(@objectName);
SELECT fullObjectName = @fullObjectName, lockIndex = @indexName, lockRes_key = @lockres, hobt_id = @hobbitID, waitresource_keyValue = @keyValue;

--Validate object name prior to running dynamic SQL
IF OBJECT_iD( @fullObjectName) IS NULL 
BEGIN
    RAISERROR(N'The object "%s" was not found.',16,1,@fullObjectName);
    RETURN;
END

--Get the row that was blocked
--NOTE: we use the NOLOCK hint to avoid locking the table when searching by %%lockres%%, which might generate table scans.
DECLARE @finalResult nvarchar(max) = N'SELECT lockResKey = %%lockres%% ,* 
FROM ' + @fullObjectName
+ ISNULL(' WITH(NOLOCK INDEX(' + QUOTENAME(@indexName) + ')) ', '')  
+ ' WHERE %%lockres%% = @lockres'
;

--print @finalresult
EXEC sp_executesql @finalResult, N'@lockres nvarchar(255)', @lockres = @lockres;

Answer 2

You have the hobt_id so the following query will identify the table:-

SELECT o.name
FROM sys.partitions p
INNER JOIN sys.objects o ON p.object_id = o.object_id
WHERE p.hobt_id = 72057632651542528

From that you can then run the following statement to identify the row in the table (if it still exists):-

SELECT %%LOCKRES%%,  *
FROM [TABLE NAME] WITH(INDEX(MyPrimaryKeyIndex))
WHERE %%LOCKRES%% = '(543066506c7c)'

Be careful with the above statement however, it will scan the target table so run in READ UNCOMMITTED and monitor your server.

Here's an article by Grant Fritchey about %%LOCKRES%% - http://www.scarydba.com/2010/03/18/undocumented-virtual-column-lockres/

And here's an article from my own blog about using %%LOCKRES%% to identify rows from an extended event:- https://dbafromthecold.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/identifying-blocking-via-extended-events/

Answer 3

The is a supplement to the answers already posted by DBAFromTheCold and Aaron Bertrand.

Microsoft has still left %%lockres%% as undocumented feature.

Below is the script that will help you :

declare @databaseName varchar(100) = 'yourdatabaseName' --CHANGE HERE !
declare @keyValue varchar(100) = 'KEY: 9:72057632651542528 (543066506c7c)' --Output from deadlock graph -- CHANGE HERE !
declare @lockres varchar(100)
declare @hobbitID bigint

select @hobbitID = convert(bigint, RTRIM(SUBSTRING(@keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1) + 1, CHARINDEX('(', @keyValue) - CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue, CHARINDEX(':', @keyValue) + 1) - 1)))

select @lockRes = RTRIM(SUBSTRING(@keyValue, CHARINDEX('(', @keyValue) + 1, CHARINDEX(')', @keyValue) - CHARINDEX('(', @keyValue) - 1))

declare @objectName sysname
declare @ObjectLookupSQL as nvarchar(max) = '
SELECT @objectName = o.name
FROM ' + quotename(@databaseName) + '.sys.partitions p
JOIN ' + quotename(@databaseName) + '.sys.indexes i ON p.index_id = i.index_id AND p.[object_id] = i.[object_id]
join ' + quotename(@databaseName)+ '.sys.objects o on o.object_id = i.object_id
WHERE hobt_id = ' + convert(nvarchar(50), @hobbitID) + ''

--print @ObjectLookupSQL
exec sp_executesql @ObjectLookupSQL
    ,N'@objectName sysname OUTPUT'
    ,@objectName = @objectName output

--print @objectName

declare @finalResult nvarchar(max) = N'select %%lockres%% ,* 
from ' + quotename(@databaseName) + '.dbo.' + @objectName + '
where %%lockres%% = ''(' + @lockRes + ')''
'
--print @finalresult
exec sp_executesql @finalResult

Also refer to this excellent blog post on : The Curious Case of the Dubious Deadlock and the Not So Logical Lock

Answer 4

Sorry, was already working on this answer and about to post when the other appeared. Adding as community wiki only because it's a slightly different approach and adds a bit of other info.

The 543066506c7c is essentially a hash of the primary key, and you can retrieve that row (and potentially any rows with a hash collision) using this dynamic SQL:

-- Given: KEY: 9:72057632651542528 (543066506c7c)
-- and object = MyDatabase.MySchema.MyTable

DECLARE 
  @hobt BIGINT = 72057632651542528,
  @db SYSNAME = DB_NAME(9),
  @res VARCHAR(255) = '(543066506c7c)';

DECLARE @exec NVARCHAR(MAX) = QUOTENAME(@db) + N'.sys.sp_executesql';

DECLARE @sql NVARCHAR(MAX) = N'SELECT %%LOCKRES%%,*
  FROM MySchema.MyTable WHERE %%LOCKRES%% = @res;';

EXEC @exec @sql, N'@res VARCHAR(255)', @res;

You can do this without dynamic SQL, of course, but this gives you a nice template for a snippet or stored procedure where you can just plug the values in, if this is something you troubleshoot a lot. (You could also parameterize the table name, and you could also build in parsing of the KEY: string to determine everything for you dynamically, but I thought that might be out of scope for this post.)