Working with Columns (Visual Database Tools)

You can edit the column properties for tables directly in the Database Diagram Designer or Table Designer. For details about which properties are available in your database, see your database documentation.

Note

If the table is published for replication, you must make schema changes using the Transact-SQL statement ALTER TABLE or SQL Server Management Objects (SMO). When schema changes are made using the Table Designer or the Database Diagram Designer, it attempts to drop and recreate the table. You cannot drop published objects, therefore the schema change will fail.

In This Section

• How to: Insert Columns into Tables (Visual Database Tools)
  Provides steps for adding columns to a database table.

• How to: Delete Columns from a Table (Visual Database Tools)
  Provides steps for deleting columns from a database table.

• Modifying Columns (Visual Database Tools)
  Briefly describes the features for modifying columns and provides a list of links to specific instructional topics.

• How to: Rename Columns (Visual Database Tools)
  Provides steps for renaming columns and describes the effects of renaming columns on your database.

• How to: Copy Columns from One Table to Another (Visual Database Tools)
  Provides steps for copying the definition of a table, such as its column names and their properties, and provides steps for copying both the definition and the data of those columns.

• How to: Create Matching Foreign and Primary Keys (Visual Database Tools)
  Provides steps for copying a Primary Key's column definition to another table in order to create matching columns for a relationship.

• How to: Show Column Properties (Visual Database Tools)
  Describes how to set or edit the column properties that defines the column for a database table.

• How to: Set Column Collation (Visual Database Tools)
  Describes how to set the language that will be used to sort columns.

Related Sections

• Working with Tables in Table Designer (Visual Database Tools)
  Provides a brief overview of the table features and provides links to more detailed topics on how to work with tables.