A few days ago, I posted an identical question (phrased differently) at http://www.sqlservercentral.com/forums/shwmessage.aspx?forumid=19&messageid=398620

Since then, I posted additional resources that might be of help to you.

Jeff,

I think your suggestion is good and I will go in that direction to finally resolve this multi-year challenge. But for those who who would like to know what Jeff...

I would PRINT the created SQL, copy it from the bottom window in Query Analyzer (QA), paste it in a new QA window then click on the execution plan icon.

How about a subset of the following?

select * from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS