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SQL Server FAQ - "sp_columns" - Getting a List of Columns in a View

By: FYIcenter.com

(Continued from previous topic...)

How To Get a List of Columns in a View using the "sp_columns" Stored Procedure?

If you have an existing table, but you don't remember what are the columns defined in the view, you can use the "sp_columns" stored procedure to get a list of all columns of the specified view. The following tutorial script shows you a good example:

EXEC SP_COLUMNS fyi_links_top;
GO
TABLE_OWNER TABLE_NAME    COLUMN_NAME TYPE_NAME LENGTH
----------- ------------- ----------- --------- ------
dbo         fyi_links_top id          int       4     
dbo         fyi_links_top counts      int       4     
dbo         fyi_links_top url         varchar   80    

(3 row(s) affected)

The "sp_columns" stored procedure returns a long list of properties for each column of the specified view.

(Continued on next topic...)

1. What Are Views?
2. How To Create a View on an Existing Table?
3. How To See Existing Views?
4. How To Drop Existing Views from a Database?
5. How To Get a List of Columns in a View using "sys.columns"?
6. How To Get a List of Columns in a View using the "sp_columns" Stored Procedure?
7. How To Get a List of Columns in a View using the "sp_help" Stored Procedure?
8. How To Generate CREATE VIEW Script on an Existing View?
9. How To Get the Definition of a View Out of the SQL Server?
10. Can You Create a View with Data from Multiple Tables?
11. Can You Create a View using Data from Another View?
12. What Happens If You Delete a Table That Is Used by a View?
13. Can You Use ORDER BY When Defining a View?
14. How To Modify the Underlying Query of an Existing View?
15. Can You Insert Data into a View?
16. Can You Update Data in a View?
17. Can You Delete Data from a View?
18. How To Assign New Column Names in a View?
19. How Column Data Types Are Determined in a View?
20. How To Bind a View to the Schema of the Underlying Tables?
21. How To Create an Index on a View?