Error Opening Feature Class. The SQL statement was not a select statement

Error Message

Cause

This error is caused by a corrupt or empty SDE_column_registry table. This table is created during the upgrade from 8.3 to 9.0 and is queried when data is previewed or layer/table properties are accessed.

It is possible that the user's initial upgrade from ArcSDE 8.3 to ArcSDE 9.0 failed with messages indicating that feature classes or tables were missing. The upgrade does not complete properly if there are records in SDE_table_registry, SDE_geometry_columns, or SDE_layers that point to non-existant tables. If tables have been improperly deleted, orphaned records may exist in the SDE repository tables.

If the user corrects these inconsistencies and again executes the upgrade, either using the Post-Installation Setup or the sdesetupmssql command, the repository upgrade completes successfully. However, in some cases the SDE_column_registry table created during the first upgrade attempt is not correctly populated during the second upgrade attempt.

Solution or Workaround

1. Using the Enterprise Manager
   Navigate to the SDE database and delete the SDE_column_registry table.
   
   Using the Query Analyzer
   Connect as either the sde user or a sysadmin. Execute the following statements:
   
   use sde
   go
   drop table sde.sde_column_registry
2. Re-execute the repository upgrade.
   
   Using the Post-Installer
   Select a custom setup and select only the 'Repository Setup' option. Proceed through the setup instructions.
   
   Using the sdesetupmssql command
   Execute the following:
   
   sdesetupmssql -o upgrade -D sde -s <datasource>
   
   Optionally provide sysadmin user name and password.
3. Using the Enterprise Manager or Query Analyzer check to see that the SDE_column_registry table was recreated and correctly populated. There should be a record for each column of each registered table or feature class.