How to Retrieve SQL Server Column Metadata Using a Query?

Retrieving Column Metadata with SQL Server Query

In SQL Server, obtaining information on a table's columns can be achieved through queries. Here's a comprehensive query to retrieve a detailed list of columns in a specified table, including data types, nullability, and primary key constraints:

SELECT 
    c.name 'Column Name',
    t.Name 'Data type',
    c.max_length 'Max Length',
    c.precision ,
    c.scale ,
    c.is_nullable,
    ISNULL(i.is_primary_key, 0) 'Primary Key'
FROM    
    sys.columns c
INNER JOIN 
    sys.types t ON c.user_type_id = t.user_type_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN 
    sys.index_columns ic ON ic.object_id = c.object_id AND ic.column_id = c.column_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN 
    sys.indexes i ON ic.object_id = i.object_id AND ic.index_id = i.index_id
WHERE
    c.object_id = OBJECT_ID('YourTableName')

Replacement Values:

• YourTableName: Replace this with the actual table name.

Output:

The query will output a table with the following columns:

• Column Name: The name of each column in the table.
• Data type: The SQL data type associated with each column.
• Max Length: The maximum length or precision of each column, if applicable.
• precision: number of digits of precision - for numbers
• scale: the representation of precision
• is_nullable: A flag indicating if the column allows null values (1 for true, 0 for false).
• Primary Key: A flag indicating if the column is a primary key (1 for true, 0 for false).

Usage:

Simply execute the query with the appropriate table name to retrieve the comprehensive list of column metadata. This query is compatible with SQL Server versions from 2005 onwards.

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