https://www.sqlserver70.com/tags/information_schema/Recent content in Information_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>https://www.sqlserver70.com/post/sql-server-sp-pkeys-primary-key-metadata/Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.sqlserver70.com/post/sql-server-sp-pkeys-primary-key-metadata/ <p>Which columns make up a table's primary key, and in what order are they declared? For a single table, the system stored procedure <code>sp_pkeys</code> answers in one line; for a database-wide inventory, the catalog views behind it give you full control. This post covers both, from the quick lookup to the complete metadata query.</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>sp_pkeys</code> returns primary key information for one table in the current database. It is an ODBC-catalog procedure — the T-SQL equivalent of the <code>SQLPrimaryKeys</code> ODBC function — and its result set is deliberately compact: <code>TABLE_QUALIFIER</code>, <code>TABLE_OWNER</code>, <code>TABLE_NAME</code>, <code>COLUMN_NAME</code>, <code>KEY_SEQ</code>, and <code>PK_NAME</code>. The <code>KEY_SEQ</code> column is the one that matters most: it gives the sequence number of each column within a multicolumn primary key, so a composite key returns one row per column in declared order.</p>