Description Metadata

When creating columns in MS-SQL there is a description field. How can I quer
y
this description field? I know how to return the Table Name, Column Name,
Data Type, Is_Nullable, etc. but I don’t know how to return the Descriptio
n.> When creating columns in MS-SQL there is a description field.
This is only ifyou create the columns in Enterprise Manager *and* choose to
use that property. Personally, I don't think you should do either, mostly
because your CREATE TABLE statements should be something that you can
script, modify, store in source control, etc.
In any case:
http://www.aspfaq.com/2244|||Aaron, good point! So where would you store the description of individual
columns? Would you create separate tables to store the descriptions of the
tables and the columns?|||> Aaron, good point! So where would you store the description of individual
> columns? Would you create separate tables to store the descriptions of the
> tables and the columns?
Why do you feel the description of your database schema needs to be stored
in the database?
We create separate human readable documentation. This allows us much more
freedom in how we are describing the schema, e.g. definitions > 64
characters, diagrams, tables, etc.
A|||I was thinking of creating a web app so that the descriptions, rules, etc.
can be documented, searched, and studied by several disparate groups. As of
now the database is completely undocumented. Then to complicate matters even
more, the knowledge of this database is scattered amongst many different
groups and individuals who won’t always work together. I keep running into
columns named TX5_RRT_SDescr and no one knows what the hell that column is
used for. The DBA is too busy to answer most questions and his answers are
too flipped to be of much use.
What form in your documentation in?|||Most of ours are in Word format. But you can make your job easier using an
extraction tool, for example Enterprise Architect.
Hey, if the DBA is too busy to answer questions that need to be answered,
why do you think he'd be willing to populate some table with the answers?
"Tome73" <Tome73@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:200AB1D7-AD01-426A-B580-7CE42716BBDE@.microsoft.com...
>I was thinking of creating a web app so that the descriptions, rules, etc.
> can be documented, searched, and studied by several disparate groups. As
> of
> now the database is completely undocumented. Then to complicate matters
> even
> more, the knowledge of this database is scattered amongst many different
> groups and individuals who won’t always work together. I keep running
> into
> columns named TX5_RRT_SDescr and no one knows what the hell that column is
> used for. The DBA is too busy to answer most questions and his answers are
> too flipped to be of much use.
> What form in your documentation in?|||Lol, he won’t! The rest of us peons will have to collaboratively piece thi
ngs
together. There are about 5 of us who have volunteered for this project and
I
just need to figure out how to best do it. I have a zero budget to work with
.
Ok then your suggestion is not to store the description in database
properties. Thanks.
The answer to my original post is:
Where Table name is ‘Admin_Users’ and the column name is ‘User_ID’
SELECT name, CONVERT(varchar(2000), [value]) AS Description
FROM ::fn_listextendedproperty(NULL, 'user', 'dbo', 'table',
'admin_Users', 'Column', 'User_ID')|||> The answer to my original post is:
> Where Table name is ‘Admin_Users’ and the column name is ‘User_ID’
> SELECT name, CONVERT(varchar(2000), [value]) AS Description
> FROM ::fn_listextendedproperty(NULL, 'user', 'dbo', 'table',
> 'admin_Users', 'Column', 'User_ID')
Yep, I posted a link to code samples earlier:
http://www.aspfaq.com/2244|||You could store your meta data in SQL Server tables and then develop your
own custom GUI and reports around it, but there are many 3rd party
applications would do a better job.
Tools like ERWin, Viseo (or even Enterprise Managers Diagramer) can be used
to create annotated diagrams of the database model
http://www.databaseanswers.com/modelling_tools.htm
Reporting Services 2005 has a Model Designer that provides end users with a
high level view of the database model for use with Report Builder.
http://www.devx.com/dbzone/Article/28047/1954?pf=true.
"Tome73" <Tome73@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:200AB1D7-AD01-426A-B580-7CE42716BBDE@.microsoft.com...
>I was thinking of creating a web app so that the descriptions, rules, etc.
> can be documented, searched, and studied by several disparate groups. As
> of
> now the database is completely undocumented. Then to complicate matters
> even
> more, the knowledge of this database is scattered amongst many different
> groups and individuals who won't always work together. I keep running into
> columns named TX5_RRT_SDescr and no one knows what the hell that column is
> used for. The DBA is too busy to answer most questions and his answers are
> too flipped to be of much use.
> What form in your documentation in?|||Aaron, yes you did and I missed it at first. I found
http://developer.com/db/article.php/3361751 which is basically the same.
Hey thanks Aaron for all your help and insight.sql