To allow a user to truncate tables in a specific schema, which permission should be used in the GRANT statement?

• A. ALTER
• B. CONTROL
• C. DELETE
• D. TRUNCATE

Answer: (A)

Truncating a table is a data definition operation in which all data pages of the table are deallocated quickly. In most databases, the ability to perform a TRUNCATE TABLE action is governed by the ALTER permission on the target object (or on the schema that contains the object). Therefore, to let a user truncate tables within a specific schema, you grant ALTER on that schema (which provides the necessary capability on the tables inside it). The other options don’t fit: DELETE governs row-by-row deletions and doesn’t enable TRUNCATE; CONTROL is overly broad; there isn’t a separate TRUNCATE permission to grant.