Unsupported system features

Emulation context

In Microsoft SQL Server, system objects such as built-in stored procedures, system catalog views, user and login commands, and DBCC utilities are frequently used for diagnostics, metadata inspection, and server-level configuration. These include objects like:

• sp_addrolemember, sp_showspaceused, sp_set_firewall_rule
• sys.sequences, sys.dm_* views
• CREATE USER, ALTER DATABASE, and DBCC commands

However, Microsoft Fabric Warehouse supports only a limited subset of system-level operations and configuration objects, excluding many features commonly used for administration and diagnostics. Fabric does not allow direct manipulation of roles, users, database configuration, or extended diagnostics using T-SQL. These system features must be removed or restructured during migration.

Emulation strategy

SQL Tran does not emulate or rewrite system-level constructs. Instead:

• For traceability purposes, unsupported system commands and procedures are commented out using: /* SQLTRAN FIX: ... */
• Certain T-SQL features and constructs are flagged using diagnostic comments such as: -- SQLTRAN FABRIC LIMITATION:
• No transformation or replacement logic is generated for these constructs, as there is no equivalent in Fabric's SQL surface.
• SQL Tran preserves the original structure to allow downstream review and manual rewriting.

Code example

SQL Server:

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[GetPromotedPeople]
AS
BEGIN
	SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED;

	SELECT BusinessEntityID, FirstName, LastName, EmailPromotion
	FROM Person.Person
	WHERE EmailPromotion > 0
	ORDER BY EmailPromotion DESC;
END;

Fabric Warehouse (generated by SQL Tran):

-- SQLTRAN FABRIC LIMITATION: -- SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[GetPromotedPeople]
AS
BEGIN
	SET TRANSACTION ISOLATION LEVEL READ COMMITTED;

	SELECT BusinessEntityID, FirstName, LastName, EmailPromotion
	FROM Person.Person
	WHERE EmailPromotion > 0
	ORDER BY EmailPromotion DESC;
END;

Important notes

• System procedures are not supported: SQL Server built-in procedures such as sp_addrolemember, sp_helpuser, sp_set_firewall_rule, and sp_showspaceused are not available in Fabric and are commented out by SQL Tran.
• DBCC and administrative commands are removed: DBCC statements like CHECKDB, USEROPTIONS, and platform-level commands such as CREATE USER or ALTER DATABASE are not supported in Fabric and are commented out.
• System views are selectively supported: While many system catalog views like sys.sequences are not available in Fabric, others like sys.objects are accessible. SQL Tran only flags unsupported views.
• XML methods are flagged: Unsupported XML methods such as .value() are identified and annotated by SQL Tran using diagnostic comments. These are not supported in Fabric’s SQL engine.
• Unsupported system clauses and special constructs: SQL Tran flags T-SQL clauses and constructs that are not classified as system objects but are unsupported in Fabric, including: $PARTITION, FOR JSON, FOR XML, FOR BROWSE, and recursive common table expressions (CTEs). These are preserved in the translated output but must be manually replaced or removed.
• Full-text search not supported: Microsoft Fabric does not support SQL Server full-text search features such as FREETEXTTABLE, CONTAINSTABLE, FREETEXT, or CONTAINS. These rely on full-text indexes, catalogs, and semantic search infrastructure, none of which exist in Fabric. SQL Tran retains these statements and flags them with a -- SQLTRAN FABRIC LIMITATION: -- FULL-TEXT SEARCH comment, but does not rewrite or emulate their behavior. Any full-text search logic must be manually removed or reimplemented using Fabric-supported techniques, such as LIKE, CHARINDEX, or preprocessed keyword filtering.
• Identity functions unsupported: Fabric does not support identity-tracking functions such as @@IDENTITY, SCOPE_IDENTITY(), or IDENT_CURRENT(). These functions depend on identity columns and engine-level metadata that are not available in Fabric’s distributed environment. SQL Tran preserves these statements in the translated output but flags them with a -- SQLTRAN FABRIC LIMITATION: comment. Any logic that depends on retrieving identity values must be manually reworked using Fabric-compatible alternatives such as NEWID(), ROW_NUMBER(), or custom sequencing strategies based on sequences or output parameters.
• No emulation or fallback is generated: SQL Tran does not attempt to simulate or replace unsupported system objects or features. All such usage must be manually reviewed.
• Manual review required: Any logic that depends on system-level behavior, metadata access, or administrative commands must be reviewed and rewritten using Fabric-compatible ingestion tools, platform APIs, or equivalent logic external to the warehouse SQL surface.