How do I return the SQL data types from my query?

Question

I've a SQL query that queries an enormous (as in, hundreds of views/tables with hard-to-read names like CMM-CPP-FAP-ADD) database that I don't need nor want to understand. The result of this query needs to be stored in a staging table to feed a report.

I need to create the staging table, but with hundreds of views/tables to dig through to find the data types that are being represented here, I have to wonder if there's a better way to construct this table.

Can anyone advise how I would use any of the SQL Server 2008 tools to divine the source data types in my SQL 2000 database?

As a general example, I want to know from a query like:

SELECT Auth_First_Name, Auth_Last_Name, Auth_Favorite_Number 
FROM Authors

Instead of the actual results, I want to know that:

Auth_First_Name is char(25)
Auth_Last_Name is char(50)
Auth_Favorite_Number is int

I'm not interested in constraints, I really just want to know the data types.

Answer 1

select * from information_schema.columns

could get you started.

Answer 2

Can you get away with recreating the staging table from scratch every time the query is executed? If so you could use SELECT ... INTO syntax and let SQL Server worry about creating the table using the correct column types etc.

SELECT *
INTO your_staging_table
FROM enormous_collection_of_views_tables_etc

Answer 3

You can also use...

SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY()

...in cases where you don't have direct access to the metadata (e.g. a linked server query perhaps?).

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms178550.aspx

In SQL Server 2005 and beyond you are better off using the catalog views (sys.columns) as opposed to INFORMATION_SCHEMA. Unless portability to other platforms is important. Just keep in mind that the INFORMATION_SCHEMA views won't change and so they will progressively be lacking information on new features etc. in successive versions of SQL Server.