The ALTER PROCEDURE statement provides an execution option that controls whether the database invokes the external stored procedure directly or runs the procedure indirectly as a separate process.
The option applies to external stored procedures that do not execute SQL and were created without specifying the EXTERNAL SECURITY clause in the CREATE PROCEDURE or REPLACE PROCEDURE statement. External stored procedures that specify the EXTERNAL SECURITY clause are executed using separate secure server processes.
| IF ALTER PROCEDURE specifies … | THEN Vantage … |
|---|---|
| EXECUTE PROTECTED | runs the external stored procedure indirectly as a separate process. If the stored procedure fails during execution, the transaction fails. |
| EXECUTE NOT PROTECTED | invokes the external stored procedure directly. |
If the ALTER PROCEDURE statement specifies EXECUTE NOT PROTECTED, and the external stored procedure fails during execution, the database software will probably restart.
Only an administrator, or someone with sufficient privileges, can use the ALTER PROCEDURE statement.