https://www.sqlserver70.com/tags/database-schema/Recent content in Database Schema on SQL Server ScriptsHugo -- gohugo.ioenSQLServer70.comThu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.sqlserver70.com/post/sql-server-database-schema-data-dictionary-queries/Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.sqlserver70.com/post/sql-server-database-schema-data-dictionary-queries/ <p>Documenting a database starts with a data dictionary: every table, every column, its data type, length, nullability, and default. SQL Server exposes this through the ANSI-standard <code>INFORMATION_SCHEMA</code> views, which produce a portable schema report that reads almost like English and runs unchanged on other ISO-compliant database engines.</p> <script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1012089347386563" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1012089347386563" data-ad-slot="8593449130"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <h2 id="purpose-and-overview">Purpose and Overview</h2> <p><code>INFORMATION_SCHEMA</code> is a set of views defined by the ISO SQL standard and implemented in a special schema present in every SQL Server database. Their purpose is insulation: they present an internal, system-table-independent view of metadata, so applications keep working even when the underlying system tables change between releases. That portability is the main reason to reach for them — a data-dictionary query written against <code>INFORMATION_SCHEMA</code> will run on SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and other engines that implement the standard.</p>