How to find column names for all tables in all dat

Question

I want to find all column names in all tables in all databases. Is there a query that can do that for me? The database is Microsoft SQL Server 2000.

Answer 1

Minor refinement on KM's solution for those like me who've got collation fun on their DB server....

DECLARE @SQL varchar(max)=''

SELECT @SQL=@SQL+'UNION
select 
'''+d.name +'.''+sh.name+''.''+o.name COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS,c.name COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS,c.column_id
from '+d.name +'.sys.columns            c
    inner join sys.objects  o on c.object_id=o.object_id
    INNER JOIN sys.schemas  sh on o.schema_id=sh.schema_id
'
FROM sys.databases d

SELECT @SQL=RIGHT(@SQL,LEN(@SQL)-5)+'order by 1,3'
--print @SQL

EXEC (@SQL)

(Still living in hope that we'll find a way to do this that can be wrapped into a view.)

Answer 2

To all: Thanks for all the post and comments some are good, but some are better.

The first big script is good because it is delivers just what is needed. The fastest and most detailed is the one suggestion for selecting from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS..

My need was to find all the errant columns of approximately the same name and Several databases.. Sooo, I made my versions of both (see below) ...Either of these two below script work and deliver the goods in seconds.

The assumption in other posts on this link, is that the first code example can be used successfully with for-each-database, is to me, not desirable. This is because the information is within the specific database and the simple use of the "fedb" doesn't produce the correct results, it simply doesn't give access. SOOO to that is why I use a CURSOR to collect the databases and ignore those that are Off-line, which in this case, a utility script, it is a good use of same.

Bottom Line, I read everyone's post, incorporated all the correction from the posts and made what are two very eloquent scripts from others good works. I listed both below and have also placed the script file on my public folder at OneDrive.com which you can access with this link: http://1drv.ms/1vr8yNX

Enjoy ! Hank Freeman

Senior Level - SQL Server DBA - Data Architect

Try them separately...

---------------------------
--- 1st example (works) ---
---------------------------
Declare 
 @DBName sysname
,@SQL_String1 nvarchar(4000)
,@SQL_String2 nvarchar(4000)
,@ColumnName nvarchar(200) 
--set @ColumnName = 'Course_ID' 
-------- Like Trick --------
-- IF you want to add more the @ColumnName so it looks like Course_ID,CourseID
-- then add an additional pairing of +''','''+'NewColumnSearchIDValue'
----------------------------
set @ColumnName = 'Course_ID' +''','''+'CourseID'
--select @ColumnName
-----
Declare @Column_Info table
(
[DatabaseName] nvarchar(128) NULL,
[ColumnName] sysname NULL,
[ObjectName] nvarchar(257) NOT NULL,
[ObjectType] nvarchar(60) NULL,
[DataType] nvarchar(151) NULL,
[Nullable] varchar(8) NOT NULL,
[MiscInfo] nvarchar(MAX) NOT NULL
)
--------------
Begin
    set @SQL_String2 = 'SELECT
     DB_NAME() as ''DatabaseName'',
    s.name as ColumnName
        ,sh.name+''.''+o.name AS ObjectName
        ,o.type_desc AS ObjectType
        ,CASE
             WHEN t.name IN (''char'',''varchar'') THEN t.name+''(''+CASE WHEN s.max_length<0 then ''MAX'' ELSE CONVERT(varchar(10),s.max_length) END+'')''
             WHEN t.name IN (''nvarchar'',''nchar'') THEN t.name+''(''+CASE WHEN s.max_length<0 then ''MAX'' ELSE CONVERT(varchar(10),s.max_length/2) END+'')''
            WHEN t.name IN (''numeric'') THEN t.name+''(''+CONVERT(varchar(10),s.precision)+'',''+CONVERT(varchar(10),s.scale)+'')''
             ELSE t.name
         END AS DataType
        ,CASE
             WHEN s.is_nullable=1 THEN ''NULL''
            ELSE ''NOT NULL''
        END AS Nullable
        ,CASE
             WHEN ic.column_id IS NULL THEN ''''
             ELSE '' identity(''+ISNULL(CONVERT(varchar(10),ic.seed_value),'''')+'',''+ISNULL(CONVERT(varchar(10),ic.increment_value),'''')+'')=''+ISNULL(CONVERT(varchar(10),ic.last_value),''null'')
         END
        +CASE
             WHEN sc.column_id IS NULL THEN ''''
             ELSE '' computed(''+ISNULL(sc.definition,'''')+'')''
         END
        +CASE
             WHEN cc.object_id IS NULL THEN ''''
             ELSE '' check(''+ISNULL(cc.definition,'''')+'')''
         END
            AS MiscInfo
    into ##Temp_Column_Info
    FROM sys.columns                           s
        INNER JOIN sys.types                   t ON s.system_type_id=t.user_type_id and t.is_user_defined=0
        INNER JOIN sys.objects                 o ON s.object_id=o.object_id
        INNER JOIN sys.schemas                sh on o.schema_id=sh.schema_id
        LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.identity_columns  ic ON s.object_id=ic.object_id AND s.column_id=ic.column_id
        LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.computed_columns  sc ON s.object_id=sc.object_id AND s.column_id=sc.column_id
        LEFT OUTER JOIN sys.check_constraints cc ON s.object_id=cc.parent_object_id AND s.column_id=cc.parent_column_id
    --------------------------------------------
    --- DBA - Hank 12-Feb-2015 added this specific where statement
    --     where Upper(s.name) like ''COURSE%''
    --   where Upper(s.name) in (''' + @ColumnName + ''')
    --  where Upper(s.name) in (''cycle_Code'')
    -- ORDER BY sh.name+''.''+o.name,s.column_id
    order by 1,2'
--------------------
    Declare DB_cursor CURSOR
    FOR 
         SELECT  name  FROM sys.databases 
        --select * from sys.databases 
        WHERE STATE = 0  
      --  and Name not IN ('master','msdb','tempdb','model','DocxPress')
        and Name not IN ('msdb','tempdb','model','DocxPress')
    Open DB_cursor
    Fetch next from DB_cursor into @DBName
    While @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
    begin 
        --select @DBName as '@DBName';
          Set @SQL_String1 = 'USE [' + @DBName + ']'
          set @SQL_String1 = @SQL_String1 + @SQL_String2
          EXEC sp_executesql @SQL_String1;
        --
        insert into @Column_Info
        select * from ##Temp_Column_Info;
        drop table ##Temp_Column_Info;
        Fetch next From DB_cursor into @DBName
    end
    CLOSE DB_cursor;
    Deallocate DB_cursor;
    ---
    select * from @Column_Info order by 2,3

----------------------------
end
---------------------------

Below is the Second script.. 
---------------------------
--- 2nd example (works) ---
---------------------------
-- This is by far the best/fastes of the lot for what it delivers.
--Select * into dbo.hanktst From Master.INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
--FileID: SCRIPT_Get_Column_info_(INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS).sql
----------------------------------------
--FileID: SCRIPT_Get_Column_info_(INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS).sql
-- Utility to find all columns in all databases or find specific with a like statement
-- Look at this line to find a: --> set @SQL_String2 = ' select * into ##Temp_Column_Info....
----------------------------------------
---
SET NOCOUNT ON
begin 
 Declare @hanktst TABLE (
    [TABLE_CATALOG]              NVARCHAR(128) NULL
   ,[TABLE_SCHEMA]               NVARCHAR(128) NULL
   ,[TABLE_NAME]                 sysname NOT NULL
   ,[COLUMN_NAME]                sysname NULL
   ,[ORDINAL_POSITION]           INT NULL
   ,[COLUMN_DEFAULT]             NVARCHAR(4000) NULL
   ,[IS_NULLABLE]                VARCHAR(3) NULL
   ,[DATA_TYPE]                  NVARCHAR(128) NULL
   ,[CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH]   INT NULL
   ,[CHARACTER_OCTET_LENGTH]     INT NULL
   ,[NUMERIC_PRECISION]          TINYINT NULL
   ,[NUMERIC_PRECISION_RADIX]    SMALLINT NULL
   ,[NUMERIC_SCALE]              INT NULL
   ,[DATETIME_PRECISION]         SMALLINT NULL
   ,[CHARACTER_SET_CATALOG]      sysname NULL
   ,[CHARACTER_SET_SCHEMA]       sysname NULL
   ,[CHARACTER_SET_NAME]         sysname NULL
   ,[COLLATION_CATALOG]          sysname NULL
   ,[COLLATION_SCHEMA]           sysname NULL
   ,[COLLATION_NAME]             sysname NULL
   ,[DOMAIN_CATALOG]             sysname NULL
   ,[DOMAIN_SCHEMA]              sysname NULL
   ,[DOMAIN_NAME]                sysname NULL
   )
       Declare 
      @DBName sysname
      ,@SQL_String2 nvarchar(4000)
      ,@TempRowCnt varchar(20)
      ,@Dbug bit = 0
      Declare DB_cursor CURSOR
      FOR 
           SELECT  name  FROM sys.databases 
          WHERE STATE = 0  
        --  and Name not IN ('master','msdb','tempdb','model','DocxPress')
          and Name not IN ('msdb','tempdb','model','DocxPress')
      Open DB_cursor
      Fetch next from DB_cursor into @DBName
      While @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
        begin 
        set @SQL_String2 = ' select * into ##Temp_Column_Info from [' + @DBName + '].INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
        where UPPER(Column_Name) like ''COURSE%''
        ;'
          if @Dbug = 1  Select @SQL_String2 as '@SQL_String2';
          EXEC sp_executesql @SQL_String2;
          insert into @hanktst
          select * from ##Temp_Column_Info;
          drop table ##Temp_Column_Info;
         Fetch next From DB_cursor into @DBName
        end
        select * from @hanktst order by 4,2,3
      CLOSE DB_cursor;
      Deallocate DB_cursor;
      set @TempRowCnt = (select cast(count(1) as varchar(10)) from @hanktst )
       Print ('Rows found: '+ @TempRowCnt +'  end ...') 
end   
--------

Answer 3

user @KM say best Answer.

I Use This :

Declare @Table_Name VarChar(100) ,@Column_Name VarChar(100)
Set @Table_Name = ''
Set @Column_Name = ''

Select 
RowNumber = Row_Number() Over( PARTITION BY T.[Name] Order By T.[Name],C.column_id  ),
SCHEMA_NAME( T.schema_id ) As SchemaName ,  
T.[Name] As Table_Name ,
C.[Name] As Field_Name , 
sysType.name ,
C.max_length , C.is_nullable , C.is_identity , C.scale , C.precision  
From Sys.Tables As T
Left Join Sys.Columns As C On ( T.[Object_Id] = C.[Object_Id] )
Left Join sys.types As sysType On ( C.user_type_id = sysType.user_type_id )
Where ( Type = 'U' )
    And ( C.Name Like '%' + @Column_Name + '%' )  
    And ( T.Name Like '%' + @Table_Name + '%' ) 

Answer 4

I just realized that the following query would give you all column names from the table in your database (SQL SERVER 2017)

SELECT DISTINCT NAME FROM SYSCOLUMNS 
ORDER BY Name 

OR SIMPLY

SELECT Name FROM SYSCOLUMNS

If you do not care about duplicated names.

Another option is SELECT Column names from INFORMATION_SCHEMA

SELECT DISTINCT column_name  FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
ORDER BY column_name

It is usually more interesting to have the TableName as well as the ColumnName ant the query below does just that.

SELECT 
   Object_Name(Id) As TableName,
   Name As ColumnName
FROM SysColumns

And the results would look like

  TableName    ColumnName
0    Table1    column11
1    Table1    Column12
2    Table2    Column21
3    Table2    Column22
4    Table3    Column23

Answer 5

SELECT * 
FROM information_schema.columns 
WHERE column_name = 'My_Column'

You must set your current database name with USE [db_name] before this query.