What is the equivalent of 'describe table' in SQL Server?

Question

I have a SQL Server database and I want to know what columns and types it has. I\'d prefer to do this through a query rather than using a GUI like Enterprise Manager. Is the

Answer 1

If you are using FirstResponderKit from Brent Ozar team, you can run this query also:

exec sp_blitzindex @tablename='MyTable'

It will return all information about table:

• indexes with their usage statistics(reads, writes, locks, etc), space used and other
• missing indexes
• columns
• foreign keys
• statistics contents

Of course it's not a system and not so universal stp like sp_help or sp_columns, but it returns all possible information about your table and I think it's worth creating it at your environment and mentioning it here.

Answer 2

There are a few methods to get metadata about a table:

EXEC sp_help tablename

Will return several result sets, describing the table, it's columns and constraints.

The INFORMATION_SCHEMA views will give you the information you want, though unfortunately you have to query the views and join them manually.

Answer 3

In addition to above questions, if we have table in DB like db_name.dbo.table_name, we may use following steps

1. Connect with DB

   USE db_name;

2. Use EXEC sp_help and don't forget to put table name as 'dbo.tablename' if you have dbo as schema.

   exec sp_help 'dbo.table_name'

This should work!

Answer 4

The problem with those answers is that you're missing the key info. While this is a bit messy this is a quick version I came up with to make sure it contains the same info the MySQL Describe displays.

Select SC.name AS 'Field', ISC.DATA_TYPE AS 'Type', ISC.CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH AS 'Length', SC.IS_NULLABLE AS 'Null', I.is_primary_key AS 'Key', SC.is_identity AS 'Identity'
From sys.columns AS SC 
LEFT JOIN sys.index_columns AS IC
ON IC.object_id = OBJECT_ID('dbo.Expenses') AND 
IC.column_id = SC.column_id
LEFT JOIN sys.indexes AS I 
ON I.object_id = OBJECT_ID('dbo.Expenses') AND 
IC.index_id = I.index_id
LEFT JOIN information_schema.columns ISC
ON ISC.TABLE_NAME = 'Expenses'
AND ISC.COLUMN_NAME = SC.name
WHERE SC.object_id = OBJECT_ID('dbo.Expenses')

Answer 5

In addition to the ways shown in other answers, you can use

SELECT TOP 0 * FROM table_name

This will give you the name of each column with no results in them, and completes almost instantly with minimal overhead.

Answer 6

You can use the sp_help 'TableName'