The Collector.TableColumnsCurrent view shows the latest collection of table column data. You use this data to, for example, detect changes to tables over time, compare the data types for similarly named columns across your enterprise, or search for common issues (such as VARCHAR(1), or deprecated data types).

Note: By default, Minion Enterprise only logs column data for Gold level servers.
 

Table

Collector.TableColumns

Stores the collections of column data.

Definitions for many of the Collector.TableProperties columns can be found in the MSDN article for sys.columns: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms176106.aspx
 
Column Type Description
ID bigint Primary key row identifier.
ExecutionDateTime datetime The execution date and time, common to the run of a collection for a single instance.
InstanceID bigint The instance ID of the instance in question, as defined in the table dbo.Servers.
DBName varchar Database name.
SchemaName varchar Schema name.
TableName sysname Object name.
ObjectID int Object ID.
ColumnName sysname Column name.
ColumnID int Column ID.
DataType nvarchar Data type of the column.
SystemTypeID int System type ID of the column.
UserTypeID int User-defined type ID of the column.
MaxLength int See the Table Class MSDN article.
Precision int See the Table Class MSDN article.
Scale int See the Table Class MSDN article.
CollationName sysname See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsNullable bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsANSIPadded bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsRowGUIDCol bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsIdentity bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsComputed bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsFilestream bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsReplicated bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsNonSQLSubscribed bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsMergePublished bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsDTSReplicated bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsXMLDocument bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
XMLCollectionID bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
DefaultObjectID int See the Table Class MSDN article.
RuleObjectID int See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsSparse int See the Table Class MSDN article.
IsColumnSet bit See the Table Class MSDN article.
ColumnDefault nvarchar Default value of the column.

Views

Collector.TableColumnsCurrent

Provides the most recent collection of column data.

Each “Current” view associated with a Collector table contains all (or nearly all) of the columns from the base table, plus a “ViewDesc” description column, and columns from dbo.Servers data:
  • ServerName
  • ServiceLevel
  • Version
  • Edition
  • Descr
 

Collector.TableColumnsPrevious

Provides the next-to-most recent collection of column data.

Each “Previous” view associated with a Collector table contains all (or nearly all) of the columns from the base table, plus a “ViewDesc” description column, and columns from dbo.Servers data:
  • ServerName
  • ServiceLevel
  • Version
  • Edition
  • Descr
 

Jobs

CollectorTableColumns-GOLD

Calls the executable SysColumnsGET.exe for all servers with ServiceLevel = ‘Gold’, to retrieve column information.
 

CollectorTableColumns-SILVER

Calls the executable SysColumnsGET.exe for all servers with ServiceLevel = ‘Silver’, to retrieve column information.
 

CollectorTableColumns-BRONZE

Calls the executable SysColumnsGET.exe for all servers with ServiceLevel = ‘Bronze’, to retrieve column information.
 

Executable

SysColumnsGET.exe

Performs the column data collection for the servers in the specified service level. Logs the results to Collector.TableColumns.
Input parameters:
  • $Query – This parameter refers to the service level that the collector should operate on. Examples: Gold, Silver, Bronze. For more information on this topic, see the article “Executables and Service Levels”.
 
Example execution:
C:\MinionByMidnightDBA\Collector\SysColumnsGET.exe Gold
 
 
https://minionware.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/2378937-columns-module
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