Question

How can one retrieve the tables’ names into a List<string> from a specific database on a server?

Answer 1

System.Data.SqlClient has what you need without a formal query on sys.Tables (though that’s what it’s using in the background). Use the GetSchema() method on the SqlConnection object and designate that you want the “Tables” and it will send you a DataTable object back with a row for each table. It sends back database name, table schema name, table name, and table type in each row (in that column order). The code would look like this:

public static List<string> GetTables(string connectionString)
{
    using (SqlConnection connection = new SqlConnection(connectionString))
    {
        connection.Open();
        DataTable schema = connection.GetSchema("Tables");
        List<string> TableNames = new List<string>();
        foreach (DataRow row in schema.Rows)
        {
            TableNames.Add(row[2].ToString());
        }
        return TableNames;
    }
}