Information Schema Views
Information schema views provide another system table–independent option for accessing SQL Server metadata. This type of view was available in prior versions of SQL Server. Using information schema views is a viable alternative for accessing SQL Server metadata from a production application. The information schema views enable an application that uses them to function properly even though the underlying system tables may have changed. Changes to the underlying system tables are most prevalent when a new version of SQL Server is released (such as SQL Server 2008), but changes can also occur as part of service packs to an existing version.
The information schema views also have the advantage of being SQL-92 compatible. ...
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