Question

I’m trying to compare the schemas of two tables that exist in different databases. So far, I have this query

SELECT * FROM sys.columns WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID('table1')

The only thing is that I don’t know how to use the sys.columns to reference a database other than the one that the query is connected to. I tried this

SELECT * FROM db.sys.columns WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID('table1')

but it didn’t find anything.

I’m using SQL Server 2005

Any suggestions? thanks!

Answer 1

Take a look at redgate’s SQL Compare.

To answer your specific question, you need to fully qualify the table reference.

SELECT * FROM db.sys.columns WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID('db.SchemaName.table1')