Finding Columns

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Finding Columns

krypto69

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Points: 13604
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April 1, 2010 at 10:22 am

#94655

We have an old db with allot of columns/tables...having trouble finding columns
Is there a script I can run to find columns with the associated table name?

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Lowell SSC Guru Points: 323518 More actions · Answer 1

i use this a lot; it's ideal for finditng tablenames or column names that you are looking for.

stick in in the master db:

sp_find inv

finds all tables, and then all columns, which have "inv" in their name;

CREATE procedure [dbo].[sp_find]

@findcolumn varchar(50)

AS

BEGIN

SET NOCOUNT ON

--print object_name(@@PROCID)

SELECT

TableFound,

ColumnFound

FROM

(

SELECT

1 AS SortOrder,

sysobjects.name AS TableFound,

'' AS ColumnFound

FROM sysobjects

WHERE sysobjects.xtype IN('U' ,'V')

AND sysobjects.name LIKE '%' + @findcolumn + '%'

UNION ALL

SELECT

2 AS SortOrder,

sysobjects.name AS TableFound,

syscolumns.name AS ColumnFound

FROM sysobjects

INNER JOIN syscolumns ON sysobjects.id=syscolumns.id

WHERE sysobjects.xtype IN('U' ,'V')

AND syscolumns.name like '%' + @findcolumn + '%'

) X

ORDER BY

SortOrder,

TableFound,

ColumnFound

END

Lowell

--help us help you! If you post a question, make sure you include a CREATE TABLE... statement and INSERT INTO... statement into that table to give the volunteers here representative data. with your description of the problem, we can provide a tested, verifiable solution to your question! asking the question the right way gets you a tested answer the fastest way possible!

Jeff Moden SSC Guru Points: 1004356 More actions · Answer 2

krypto69 (4/1/2010)
We have an old db with allot of columns/tables...having trouble finding columns
Is there a script I can run to find columns with the associated table name?

Just press the f4 key... you'll be amazed. It's a shame they didn't include the same functionality in 2k5.

--Jeff Moden

RBAR is pronounced "ree-bar" and is a "Modenism" for Row-By-Agonizing-Row.
First step towards the paradigm shift of writing Set Based code:
________Stop thinking about what you want to do to a ROW... think, instead, of what you want to do to a COLUMN.

Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.

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