SQL Server › Views

What is a schema bound view, and what specific benefit does the WITH SCHEMABINDING option provide?

Intermediate

Answer

A schema bound view is created using the WITH SCHEMABINDING option, which prevents the underlying tables referenced by the view from being altered or dropped in a way that would break the view's definition, providing an extra layer of protection and also being a requirement if you want to create an indexed view.

CREATE VIEW dbo.ActiveOrders
WITH SCHEMABINDING
AS
SELECT OrderId, CustomerId, Amount
FROM dbo.Orders
WHERE Status = 'Active';

Real-world example A team creates a schema bound view over their orders table, preventing a well meaning developer from accidentally dropping a column that the view actually depends on without first being warned by SQL Server.

Common follow-ups: What specific restrictions does WITH SCHEMABINDING place on the view's definition?;Why is schema binding required before you can create an indexed view?

Constraints (Primary Key Foreign Key Check & Unique);Columnstore Indexes