Documenting tables/fields - utility?

As part of a project documentation I want to list out the fields of all the tables to say Excel to plug in a description of the field and other notes.

Is there a tool in EM that would facilitate? Or, is there a utility that would work or a SQL script? Any recommendations is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

PeterI'll never understand what motivates people to want to take DATA from a DATABASE and store it in a SPREADSHEET.
Tables and columns are already enumerated within the database, and a description of each column can be entered through Enterprise Manager.
You can query the system tables to list all the tables with their columns and descriptions and (if you absolutely insist...) export the results to an Excel file.|||Erwin is good for this. Which reminds me I am about a month and a half behind on that.|||Hey - for a blind guy, you sure help me see the light.

Thanks blindman.|||I keep a bottle of hand-sanitizer with me for occasions when a client requires me to open up Excel, but otherwise all the data I deal with stays in databases.|||LOL - I like that line about having to use hand sanitizer...I will be using that one myself.

I did find a quick query syntax at:

http://searchvb.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid8_gci876303,00.html?bucket=ETA

SELECT
table_name=sysobjects.name,
column_name=syscolumns.name,
datatype=systypes.name,
length=syscolumns.length
FROM sysobjects inner JOIN syscolumns ON sysobjects.id = syscolumns.id
inner join systypes on syscolumns.xtype=systypes.xusertype
where sysobjects.xtype='U'
order by sysobjects.name,syscolumns.colid

I altered the above to bring in the description that a user can enter against each field in the tables:

SELECT
table_name=sysobjects.name,
column_name=syscolumns.name,
datatype=systypes.name,
length=syscolumns.length,
descr=sysproperties.value
FROM sysobjects inner JOIN syscolumns ON sysobjects.id = syscolumns.id
inner join systypes on syscolumns.xtype=systypes.xusertype
left join sysproperties on sysproperties.id=syscolumns.id and syscolumns.colid=sysproperties.smallid
where sysobjects.xtype='U'
order by sysobjects.name,syscolumns.colid

This is fine for my immediate needs.|||If you liked that one, you'll love this one ... and it's guarenteed not to become obsolete with sql server upgrades ...


select * from information_schema.columns|||Tom -

Thanks - another good one for quick data generation.