Get columns name

_Flaviu

If I run a SQL statement, like this:

SELECT * FROM my_table

is there any SQL statement / trick to find the name of every column from '*' ? Because if I write:

SELECT id, name, age FROM my_table

yes, I could extract the columns name, by text analyze. But how about '*' case ?

Victor Nijegorodov

[How can I get column names from a table in SQL Server? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1054984/how-can-i-get-column-names-from-a-table-in-sql-server) [sql - How can I get column names from a table in Oracle? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/452464/how-can-i-get-column-names-from-a-table-in-oracle) [information schema - How to find all the tables in MySQL with specific column names in them? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/193780/how-to-find-all-the-tables-in-mysql-with-specific-column-names-in-them) [postgresql - List all columns for a specified table - Database Administrators Stack Exchange](https://dba.stackexchange.com/questions/22362/list-all-columns-for-a-specified-table)

_Flaviu

Yes, I know that, but the question is, how can I know the columns name for the following SELECT (programmatically):

SELECT * FROM table1, table 2 WHERE table1.id = table2.id;

?

Victor Nijegorodov

I'd just do it the same way as for a single table: - obtain column names for table1; - obtain column names for table2; - ...

_Flaviu

So, you are saying that I need to do a static analyze on SELECT text and see what columns I have, if I enumerate the columns in the SELECT statement, then I have it, if I don't (I have '*') then I have to query the tables names / columns name and will find them. I thought there is a SQL trick to find the columns name in any circumstances.

Victor Nijegorodov

I'd implement such a "trick" in a stored procedure that gets a query as an argument, then creates the temporary View, uses

SELECT [TABLE_NAME]
,[COLUMN_NAME]
FROM [INFORMATION_SCHEMA].[COLUMNS]
where TABLE_NAME =

to return the recordset with the tables/columns names, then delete the temp view. PS: this should work with SQL Server 2008 and above.

_Flaviu

Sound good ! Because this solution should be cross server platform, it is available on the other SQL servers, like Oracle, Informix, MySQL, and so on ?

Victor Nijegorodov

You have to test it yourself! Just check out the links I gave you [here](https://www.codeproject.com/Messages/5808300/Re-Get-columns-name)

Lost User

If you load your query into a DataTable, you can get the column names from meta data. [datatable - How do I get column names to print in this C# program? - Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2557937/how-do-i-get-column-names-to-print-in-this-c-sharp-program)

It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food

Victor Nijegorodov

AFAIK, the OP develops in C++. However, I may be wrong.

Lost User

[Data Access Using ADO.NET (C++/CLI) | Microsoft Docs](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/dotnet/data-access-using-adonet-cpp-cli?view=msvc-160)

It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food

Victor Nijegorodov

But it is managed C++/CLI. :sigh: It has nothing to do with the native C++. :-O

Lost User

Yeah, but ... [Using ADO.NET in MFC Projects](https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/4735/Using-ADO-NET-in-MFC-Projects) (And it's a "database" forum) Before ADO.NET there was ADO, and MFC did ADO.

It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it. ― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food

Victor Nijegorodov

Interesting idea. Thank you! BTW, I used ADO in my big VS2010 project (C++/MFC with ADO with SQL Server) from 2009 to 2015, of course without any mixture with managed code! ;)

Mycroft Holmes

Try this select * from table1 where 1=1 this should return an empty datatable with all the columns. Simply iterate the columns to get their names.

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP

mverbeke

Try: SELECT [name]. [column_id] AS [Ordinal] FROM sys.columns WHERE [object_id] = OBJECT_ID('MyTable') ORDER BY [column_id]; That will get the column names and ordinal position.

Richard Deeming

I suggest you read the documentation:

sys.columns (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Docs[^]:

Column IDs might not be sequential.

If a column has ever been dropped from the table, you will end up with gaps in the column ID sequence. To get a true ordinal position, you'd need to use the ROW_NUMBER windowing function - for example:

SELECT [name], ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY [column_id]) As [Ordinal]
FROM sys.columns
WHERE [object_id] = OBJECT_ID('MyTable')
ORDER BY [column_id]

"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer