SQL Server: How to list the columns in a table

This is a simple script to list the columns in a given table in SQL Server. It uses the SYSCOLUMNS, SYSTYPES, and SYSOBJECTS system tables:

use mydatabase

select left(col.name, 32) col_name, left(typ.name, 32) col_type, typ.length
  from syscolumns col
  left join sysobjects tab on tab.id = col.id
  left join systypes typ on typ.xtype = col.xtype
 where tab.name = 'TABLE NAME' and tab.xtype = 'U'

go