sp_sproc_columns (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance Azure Synapse Analytics Analytics Platform System (PDW) SQL analytics endpoint in Microsoft Fabric Warehouse in Microsoft Fabric

Returns column information for a single stored procedure or user-defined function in the current environment.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_sproc_columns
    [ [ @procedure_name = ] N'procedure_name' ]
    [ , [ @procedure_owner = ] N'procedure_owner' ]
    [ , [ @procedure_qualifier = ] N'procedure_qualifier' ]
    [ , [ @column_name = ] N'column_name' ]
    [ , [ @ODBCVer = ] ODBCVer ]
    [ , [ @fUsePattern = ] fUsePattern ]
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @procedure_name = ] N'procedure_name'

The name of the procedure used to return catalog information. @procedure_name is nvarchar(390), with a default of %, which means all tables in the current database. Wildcard pattern matching is supported.

[ @procedure_owner = ] N'procedure_owner'

The name of the owner of the procedure. @procedure_owner is nvarchar(384), with a default of NULL. Wildcard pattern matching is supported. If @procedure_owner isn't specified, the default procedure visibility rules of the underlying database management system (DBMS) apply.

If the current user owns a procedure with the specified name, information about that procedure is returned. If @procedure_owner isn't specified and the current user doesn't own a procedure with the specified name, sp_sproc_columns looks for a procedure with the specified name that is owned by the database owner. If the procedure exists, information about its columns is returned.

[ @procedure_qualifier = ] N'procedure_qualifier'

The name of the procedure qualifier. @procedure_qualifier is sysname, with a default of NULL. Various DBMS products support three-part naming for tables (<qualifier>.<owner>.<name>). In SQL Server, this parameter represents the database name. In some products, it represents the server name of the table's database environment.

[ @column_name = ] N'column_name'

A single column and is used when only one column of catalog information is desired. @column_name is nvarchar(384), with a default of NULL. If @column_name is omitted, all columns are returned. Wildcard pattern matching is supported. For maximum interoperability, the gateway client should assume only ISO standard pattern matching (the % and _ wildcard characters).

[ @ODBCVer = ] ODBCVer

The version of ODBC being used. @ODBCVer is int, with a default of 2, which indicates ODBC version 2.0. For more information about the differences between ODBC version 2.0 and ODBC version 3.0, see the ODBC SQLProcedureColumns specification for ODBC version 3.0.

[ @fUsePattern = ] fUsePattern

Determines whether the underscore (_), percent (%), and bracket ([ and ]) characters are interpreted as wildcard characters. @fUsePattern is bit, with a default of 1. Valid values are 0 (pattern matching is off) and 1 (pattern matching is on).

Return code values

None.

Result set

Column name	Data type	Description
PROCEDURE_QUALIFIER	sysname	Procedure qualifier name. This column can be NULL.
PROCEDURE_OWNER	sysname	Procedure owner name. This column always returns a value.
PROCEDURE_NAME	nvarchar(134)	Procedure name. This column always returns a value.
COLUMN_NAME	sysname	Column name for each column of the TABLE_NAME returned. This column always returns a value.
COLUMN_TYPE	smallint	This field always returns a value: 0 = SQL_PARAM_TYPE_UNKNOWN 1 = SQL_PARAM_TYPE_INPUT 2 = SQL_PARAM_TYPE_OUTPUT 3 = SQL_RESULT_COL 4 = SQL_PARAM_OUTPUT 5 = SQL_RETURN_VALUE
DATA_TYPE	smallint	Integer code for an ODBC data type. If this data type can't be mapped to an ISO type, the value is NULL. The native data type name is returned in the TYPE_NAME column.
TYPE_NAME	sysname	String representation of the data type. This value is the data type name as presented by the underlying DBMS.
PRECISION	int	Number of significant digits. The return value for the PRECISION column is in base 10.
LENGTH	int	Transfer size of the data.
SCALE	smallint	Number of digits to the right of the decimal point.
RADIX	smallint	The base for numeric types.
NULLABLE	smallint	Specifies nullability: 1 = Data type can be created allowing null values. 0 = Null values aren't allowed.
REMARKS	varchar(254)	Description of the procedure column. SQL Server doesn't return a value for this column.
COLUMN_DEF	nvarchar(4000)	Default value of the column.
SQL_DATA_TYPE	smallint	Value of the SQL data type as it appears in the TYPE field of the descriptor. This column is the same as the DATA_TYPE column, except for the datetime and ISO interval data types. This column always returns a value.
SQL_DATETIME_SUB	smallint	The datetime ISO interval subcode if the value of SQL_DATA_TYPE is SQL_DATETIME or SQL_INTERVAL. For data types other than datetime and ISO interval, this field is NULL.
CHAR_OCTET_LENGTH	int	Maximum length in bytes of a character or binary data type column. For all other data types, this column returns a NULL.
ORDINAL_POSITION	int	Ordinal position of the column in the table. The first column in the table is 1. This column always returns a value.
IS_NULLABLE	varchar(254)	Nullability of the column in the table. ISO rules are followed to determine nullability. An ISO compliant DBMS can't return an empty string. Displays YES if the column can include nulls, and NO if the column can't include nulls. This column returns a zero-length string if nullability is unknown. The value returned for this column is different from the value returned for the NULLABLE column.
SS_DATA_TYPE	tinyint	SQL Server data type used by extended stored procedures. For more information, see Data types (Transact-SQL).

Remarks

sp_sproc_columns is equivalent to SQLProcedureColumns in ODBC. The results returned are ordered by PROCEDURE_QUALIFIER, PROCEDURE_OWNER, PROCEDURE_NAME, and the order that the parameters appear in the procedure definition.

Permissions

Requires SELECT permission on the schema.

Related content

• Catalog stored procedures (Transact-SQL)
• System stored procedures (Transact-SQL)