The DotNet helpfile does not explicitly state a limit on the number of columns. Some time ago I had the same questions 'how many columns can I add' so I wrote a simpel loop. I was able to add more than 10,000 columns with unique names and of object type, so your 3,000 should be possible. So the question becomes, how is it failing? What is the error message you are getting? Without this information we are just playing a guessing game. So please let us know... Here are a few simple things to check: Are you sure all your columnnames are unique? Are you running out of memory? (How much memory are you consuming when the addition fails.) Do you have any rows in the table already is is the table empty? Thanx. (EDIT: So I was a little slow typing this response, not changing the text though)