The Verify Table Definition utility allows you to verify that the schema holder for your data source matches the data definitions in the data source. For example, if you delete the customer table from the data source but not from the schema holder, this utility reports that the schema holder contains an orphaned object. You can verify the schema information in a single table or from multiple tables, and then choose to update the tables so that the schema information matches the data source definitions.

The Verify Table Definition utility reads the definitions in the data source and compares them to the information in the schema holder. It reports the differences that it finds and their degree of severity. These are the categories of differences and how they impact your database applications:

• Minor — These differences have no impact on the usability of your application.
• Retained — These differences cannot be corrected by the Update/Add utility, hence the term "retained." You must determine how severely they impact your application and change the data definitions either in the schema holder using the Data Dictionary or in the data source.
• Severe — These differences might cause your application to malfunction. When the Verify utility detects severe differences, it automatically updates the schema holder to solve the discrepancies by adjusting the schema-image information in the schema holder to match the data source definitions. Severe differences in definitions that the DataServer uses internally also cause the schema holder to be updated.

The following table lists the differences that the Verify Table Definition utility detects.