get basic SQL Server table structure information

Question

I can get the number of columns in an SQL Server database with this:

SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE table_name = \'Address\'

Answer 1

Instead of using count(*) you can SELECT * and you will return all of the details that you want including data_type:

SELECT *
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE table_name = 'Address'

MSDN Docs on INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS