sp_columns_ex (T-SQL)

Returns the column information, one row per column, for the given linked server table(s). sp_columns_ex returns column information only for the given column if column is specified.

Syntax

sp_columns_ex [@table_server =] 'table_server'
    [, [@table_name =] 'table_name']
    [, [@table_schema =] 'table_schema']
    [, [@table_catalog =] 'table_catalog']
    [, [@column_name =] 'column']
    [, [@ODBCVer =] 'ODBCVer']

Arguments
[@table_server =] 'table_server'
Is the name of the linked server for which to return column information. table_server is sysname, with no default.
[@table_name =] 'table_name'
Is the name of the table for which to return column information. table_name is sysname, with a default of NULL.
[@table_schema =] 'table_schema'
Is the schema name of the table for which to return column information. table_schema is sysname, with a default of NULL.
[@table_catalog =] 'table_catalog'
Is the catalog name of the table for which to return column information. table_catalog is sysname, with a default of NULL.
[@column_name =] 'column'
Is the name of the database column for which to provide information. column is sysname, with a default of NULL.
[@ODBCVer =] 'ODBCVer'
Is the version of ODBC being used. ODBCVer is int, with a default of 2, indicating ODBC Version 2. Valid values are 2 or 3. Refer to the ODBC SQLColumns specification for the behavior differences between versions 2 and 3.
Return Code Values

None

Result Sets
Column name Data type Description
TABLE_CAT sysname Table or view qualifier name. Various DBMS products support three-part naming for tables (qualifier.owner.name). In Microsoft® SQL Server™, this column represents the database name. In some products, it represents the server name of the table’s database environment. This field can be NULL.
TABLE_SCHEM sysname Table or view owner name. In SQL Server, this column represents the name of the database user that created the table. This field always returns a value.
TABLE_NAME sysname Table or view name. This field always returns a value.
COLUMN_NAME sysname Column name, for each column of the TABLE_NAME returned. This field always returns a value.
DATA_TYPE smallint Integer value corresponding to ODBC type indicators. If this is a data type that cannot be mapped to an ODBC type, it is NULL. The native data type name is returned in the TYPE_NAME column.
TYPE_NAME varchar(13) String representing a data type. The underlying DBMS presents this data type name.
COLUMN_SIZE int Number of significant digits. The return value for the PRECISION column is in base 10.
BUFFER_LENGTH int Transfer size of the data. (*)
DECIMAL_DIGITS smallint Number of digits to the right of the decimal point.
NUM_PREC_RADIX smallint Is the base for numeric data types.
NULLABLE smallint Specifies nullability.
1 = NULL is possible.
0 = NOT NULL.
REMARKS varchar(254) This field always returns NULL.
COLUMN_DEF varchar(254) Default value of the column.
SQL_DATA_TYPE smallint Value of the SQL data type as it appears in the TYPE field of the descriptor. This column is the same as the DATA_TYPE column, except for the datetime and SQL-92 interval data types. This column always returns a value.
SQL_DATETIME_SUB smallint Subtype code for datetime and SQL-92 interval data types. For other data types, this column returns NULL.
CHAR_OCTET_LENGTH int Maximum length in bytes of a character or integer data type column. For all other data types, this column returns NULL.
ORDINAL_POSITION int Ordinal position of the column in the table. The first column in the table is 1. This column always returns a value.
IS_NULLABLE varchar(254) Nullability of the column in the table. ISO rules are followed to determine nullability. An ISO SQL-compliant DBMS cannot return an empty string.

YES = Column can include NULLS.
NO = Column cannot include NULLS.

This column returns a zero-length string if nullability is unknown.

The value returned for this column is different from the value returned for the NULLABLE column.

SS_DATA_TYPE tinyint SQL Server data type, used by Open Data Services extended stored procedures. For more information see Data Types.
*    For more information about length, see the Microsoft ODBC Programmer’s Reference and SDK Guide, available separately.

Remarks

sp_columns_ex is executed by querying the COLUMNS rowset of the IDBSchemaRowset interface of the OLE DB provider corresponding to table_server. The table_name, table_schema, table_catalog, and column parameters are passed to this interface to restrict the rows returned.

sp_columns_ex returns an empty result set if the OLE DB provider of the specified linked server does not support the COLUMNS rowset of the IDBSchemaRowset interface.

Permissions

Execute permission defaults to the public role.

Examples

This example returns the data type of the title_id column of the titles table.

USE master

EXEC sp_columns_ex 'LONDON1', 'titles', 'dbo', 'pubs',

    'title_id'

  

See Also
sp_catalogs sp_primarykeys
sp_foreignkeys sp_tables_ex
sp_indexes sp_table_privileges
sp_linkedservers System Stored Procedures

  


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