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

Just double click on the table name and press Alt+F1

Answer 2

CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[describe] 
( 
@SearchStr nvarchar(max) 
) 
AS 
BEGIN 
SELECT  
    CONCAT([COLUMN_NAME],' ',[DATA_TYPE],' ',[CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH],' ', 
    (SELECT CASE [IS_NULLABLE] WHEN 'NO' THEN 'NOT NULL' ELSE 'NULL' END),
    (SELECT CASE WHEN [COLUMN_DEFAULT] IS NULL THEN '' ELSE CONCAT(' DEFAULT ',[COLUMN_DEFAULT]) END)
    ) AS DESCRIPTION
    FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS WHERE TABLE_NAME LIKE @SearchStr
END 

Answer 3

SELECT C.COLUMN_NAME, C.IS_NULLABLE, C.DATA_TYPE, TC.CONSTRAINT_TYPE, C.COLUMN_DEFAULT
    FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS AS C
    FULL JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.CONSTRAINT_COLUMN_USAGE AS CC ON C.COLUMN_NAME = CC.COLUMN_NAME 
    FULL JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLE_CONSTRAINTS AS TC ON CC.CONSTRAINT_NAME = TC.CONSTRAINT_NAME
WHERE C.TABLE_NAME = '<Table Name>';

Sample Output

Answer 4

select * from sysobjects where name='TABLENAME'

Answer 5

Please use the following sql query; this worked for my case.

select * FROM   INFORMATION_SCHEMA.Columns where table_name = 'tablename';

Answer 6

I like this format:

name     DataType      Collation             Constraints         PK  FK          Comment

id       int                                 NOT NULL IDENTITY   PK              Order Line Id
pid      int                                 NOT NULL                tbl_orders  Order Id
itemCode varchar(10)   Latin1_General_CI_AS  NOT NULL                            Product Code

So I have used this:

DECLARE @tname varchar(100) = 'yourTableName';

SELECT  col.name,

        CASE typ.name
            WHEN 'nvarchar' THEN 'nvarchar('+CAST((col.max_length / 2) as varchar)+')'
            WHEN 'varchar' THEN 'varchar('+CAST(col.max_length as varchar)+')'
            WHEN 'char' THEN 'char('+CAST(col.max_length as varchar)+')'
            WHEN 'nchar' THEN 'nchar('+CAST((col.max_length / 2) as varchar)+')'
            WHEN 'binary' THEN 'binary('+CAST(col.max_length as varchar)+')'
            WHEN 'varbinary' THEN 'varbinary('+CAST(col.max_length as varchar)+')'
            WHEN 'numeric' THEN 'numeric('+CAST(col.precision as varchar)+(CASE WHEN col.scale = 0 THEN '' ELSE ','+CAST(col.scale as varchar) END) +')'
            WHEN 'decimal' THEN 'decimal('+CAST(col.precision as varchar)+(CASE WHEN col.scale = 0 THEN '' ELSE ','+CAST(col.scale as varchar) END) +')'
            ELSE typ.name
            END DataType,

        ISNULL(col.collation_name,'') Collation,

        CASE WHEN col.is_nullable = 0 THEN 'NOT NULL ' ELSE '' END + CASE WHEN col.is_identity = 1 THEN 'IDENTITY' ELSE '' END Constraints,

        ISNULL((SELECT 'PK'
                FROM    sys.key_constraints kc INNER JOIN
                        sys.tables tb ON tb.object_id = kc.parent_object_id INNER JOIN
                        sys.indexes si ON si.name = kc.name INNER JOIN
                        sys.index_columns sic ON sic.index_id = si.index_id AND sic.object_id = si.object_id
                WHERE kc.type = 'PK'
                  AND tb.name = @tname
                  AND sic.column_id = col.column_id),'') PK,

        ISNULL((SELECT (SELECT name FROM sys.tables st WHERE st.object_id = fkc.referenced_object_id)
                FROM    sys.foreign_key_columns fkc INNER JOIN
                        sys.columns c ON c.column_id = fkc.parent_column_id AND fkc.parent_object_id = c.object_id INNER JOIN
                        sys.tables t ON t.object_id = c.object_id
                WHERE t.name = tab.name
                  AND c.name = col.name),'') FK,

        ISNULL((SELECT value
                FROM sys.extended_properties
                WHERE major_id = tab.object_id
                  AND minor_id = col.column_id),'') Comment

FROM sys.columns col INNER JOIN
     sys.tables tab ON tab.object_id = col.object_id INNER JOIN
     sys.types typ ON typ.system_type_id = col.system_type_id
WHERE tab.name = @tname
  AND typ.name != 'sysname'
ORDER BY col.column_id;