Beginning Microsoft SQL Server 2008 ... - S3 Tech Training

asic SELECT statement. Fire up the SQL Server Management Studio and let’s take a look at a simple
SELECT statement:
SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES;
Let’s look at what we’ve asked for here. We’ve asked to SELECT information; you can also think of this
as requesting to display information. The * may seem odd, but it actually works pretty much as * does
everywhere: It’s a wildcard. When we say SELECT *, we’re saying we want to select every column from
the table. Next, the FROM indicates that we’ve finished saying what items to output and that we’re about
to say what the source of the information is supposed to be — in this case, INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES.
Try It Out The SELECT Statement
Let’s play around with this some more. Change the current database to be the AdventureWorks2008
database. Recall that to do this, you need only select the AdventureWorks2008 entry from the combo
box in the toolbar at the top of the Query window in the Management Studio, as shown in Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1
Chapter 3: The Foundation Statements of T-SQL
INFORMATION_SCHEMA is a special access path that is used for displaying metadata
about your system’s databases and their contents. INFORMATION_SCHEMA has several
parts that can be specified after a period, such as INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA
or INFORMATION_SCHEMA.VIEWS. These special access paths to the metadata of your
system have been put there so you won’t have to use system tables.
45