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

Name and datatype:

USE OurDatabaseName
GO

SELECT 
    sc.name AS [Columne Name], 
    st1.name AS [User Type],
    st2.name AS [Base Type]
FROM dbo.syscolumns sc
    INNER JOIN dbo.systypes st1 ON st1.xusertype = sc.xusertype
    INNER JOIN dbo.systypes st2 ON st2.xusertype = sc.xtype
-- STEP TWO: Change OurTableName to the table name
WHERE sc.id = OBJECT_ID('OurTableName')
ORDER BY sc.colid

Or:

SELECT COLUMN_NAME AS ColumnName, DATA_TYPE AS DataType, CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH AS CharacterLength
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'OurTableName'