How to quickly determine the DataType and Nullability of a Column in a query in SQL Server Management Studio 2008

When there are too many columns referenced in a query, it becomes difficult to track the datatype of each column referenced in that query. In such cases, SSMS 2008 offers a very handy feature using which you can determine the datatype and nullability of a column without going to the Object Explorer.

This feature is called the ‘Quick Info’ feature and if not already enabled on your machine, this feature can be enabled using Edit > Intellisense > Quick Info

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Once enabled, you can then hover your mouse over a column in a query to see it’s datatype and nullability as shown below. Here we are viewing the datatype and nullability of the EmployeeID column.

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About The Author

Suprotim Agarwal, MCSD, MCAD, MCDBA, MCSE, is the founder of DotNetCurry, DNC Magazine for Developers, SQLServerCurry and DevCurry. He has also authored a couple of books 51 Recipes using jQuery with ASP.NET Controls and a new one recently at The Absolutely Awesome jQuery CookBook.

Suprotim has received the prestigous Microsoft MVP award for nine times in a row now. In a professional capacity, he is the CEO of A2Z Knowledge Visuals Pvt Ltd, a digital group that represents premium web sites and digital publications comprising of Professional web, windows, mobile and cloud developers, technical managers, and architects.

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