In SQL Server, how do I generate a CREATE TABLE statement for a given table?

Question

I\'ve spent a good amount of time coming up with solution to this problem, so in the spirit of this post, I\'m posting it here, since I think it might be useful to others. <

Answer 1

Support for schemas:

This is an updated version that amends the great answer from David, et al. Added is support for named schemas. It should be noted this may break if there's actually tables of the same name present within various schemas. Another improvement is the use of the official QuoteName() function.

SELECT 
    t.TABLE_CATALOG,
    t.TABLE_SCHEMA,
    t.TABLE_NAME,
    'create table '+QuoteName(t.TABLE_SCHEMA)+'.' + QuoteName(so.name) + ' (' + LEFT(o.List, Len(o.List)-1) + ');  ' 
        + CASE WHEN tc.Constraint_Name IS NULL THEN '' 
          ELSE 
            'ALTER TABLE ' + QuoteName(t.TABLE_SCHEMA)+'.' + QuoteName(so.name) 
            + ' ADD CONSTRAINT ' + tc.Constraint_Name  + ' PRIMARY KEY ' + ' (' + LEFT(j.List, Len(j.List)-1) + ');  ' 
          END as 'SQL_CREATE_TABLE'
FROM sysobjects so

CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT 
          '  ['+column_name+'] ' 
          +  data_type 
          + case data_type
                when 'sql_variant' then ''
                when 'text' then ''
                when 'ntext' then ''
                when 'decimal' then '(' + cast(numeric_precision as varchar) + ', ' + cast(numeric_scale as varchar) + ')'
              else 
              coalesce(
                '('+ case when character_maximum_length = -1 
                    then 'MAX' 
                    else cast(character_maximum_length as varchar) end 
                + ')','') 
            end 
        + ' ' 
        + case when exists ( 
            SELECT id 
            FROM syscolumns
            WHERE 
                object_name(id) = so.name
                and name = column_name
                and columnproperty(id,name,'IsIdentity') = 1 
          ) then
            'IDENTITY(' + 
            cast(ident_seed(so.name) as varchar) + ',' + 
            cast(ident_incr(so.name) as varchar) + ')'
          else ''
          end 
        + ' ' 
        + (case when IS_NULLABLE = 'No' then 'NOT ' else '' end) 
        + 'NULL ' 
        + case when information_schema.columns.COLUMN_DEFAULT IS NOT NULL THEN 'DEFAULT '+ information_schema.columns.COLUMN_DEFAULT 
          ELSE '' 
          END 
        + ','  -- can't have a field name or we'll end up with XML

    FROM information_schema.columns 
    WHERE table_name = so.name
    ORDER BY ordinal_position
    FOR XML PATH('')
) o (list)

LEFT JOIN information_schema.table_constraints tc on  
    tc.Table_name = so.Name
    AND tc.Constraint_Type  = 'PRIMARY KEY'

LEFT JOIN information_schema.tables t on  
    t.Table_name = so.Name

CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT QuoteName(Column_Name) + ', '
    FROM information_schema.key_column_usage kcu
    WHERE kcu.Constraint_Name = tc.Constraint_Name
    ORDER BY ORDINAL_POSITION
    FOR XML PATH('')
) j (list)

WHERE
    xtype = 'U'
    AND name NOT IN ('dtproperties')
    -- AND so.name = 'ASPStateTempSessions'
;

..

For use in Management Studio:

One detractor to the sql code above is if you test it using SSMS, long statements aren't easy to read. So, as per this helpful post, here's another version that's somewhat modified to be easier on the eyes after clicking the link of a cell in the grid. The results are more readily identifiable as nicely formatted CREATE TABLE statements for each table in the db.

-- settings
DECLARE @CRLF NCHAR(2)
SET @CRLF = Nchar(13) + NChar(10)
DECLARE @PLACEHOLDER NCHAR(3)
SET @PLACEHOLDER = '{:}'

-- the main query
SELECT 
    t.TABLE_CATALOG,
    t.TABLE_SCHEMA,
    t.TABLE_NAME,
    CAST(
        REPLACE(
            'create table ' + QuoteName(t.TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QuoteName(so.name) + ' (' + @CRLF 
            + LEFT(o.List, Len(o.List) - (LEN(@PLACEHOLDER)+2)) + @CRLF + ');' + @CRLF
            + CASE WHEN tc.Constraint_Name IS NULL THEN '' 
              ELSE
                'ALTER TABLE ' + QuoteName(t.TABLE_SCHEMA) + '.' + QuoteName(so.Name) 
                + ' ADD CONSTRAINT ' + tc.Constraint_Name  + ' PRIMARY KEY (' + LEFT(j.List, Len(j.List) - 1) + ');' + @CRLF
              END,
            @PLACEHOLDER,
            @CRLF
        )
    AS XML) as 'SQL_CREATE_TABLE'
FROM sysobjects so

CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT 
          '   '
          + '['+column_name+'] ' 
          +  data_type 
          + case data_type
                when 'sql_variant' then ''
                when 'text' then ''
                when 'ntext' then ''
                when 'decimal' then '(' + cast(numeric_precision as varchar) + ', ' + cast(numeric_scale as varchar) + ')'
              else 
              coalesce(
                '('+ case when character_maximum_length = -1 
                    then 'MAX' 
                    else cast(character_maximum_length as varchar) end 
                + ')','') 
            end 
        + ' ' 
        + case when exists ( 
            SELECT id 
            FROM syscolumns
            WHERE 
                object_name(id) = so.name
                and name = column_name
                and columnproperty(id,name,'IsIdentity') = 1 
          ) then
            'IDENTITY(' + 
            cast(ident_seed(so.name) as varchar) + ',' + 
            cast(ident_incr(so.name) as varchar) + ')'
          else ''
          end 
        + ' ' 
        + (case when IS_NULLABLE = 'No' then 'NOT ' else '' end) 
        + 'NULL ' 
        + case when information_schema.columns.COLUMN_DEFAULT IS NOT NULL THEN 'DEFAULT '+ information_schema.columns.COLUMN_DEFAULT 
          ELSE '' 
          END 
        + ', ' 
        + @PLACEHOLDER  -- note, can't have a field name or we'll end up with XML

    FROM information_schema.columns where table_name = so.name
    ORDER BY ordinal_position
    FOR XML PATH('')
) o (list)

LEFT JOIN information_schema.table_constraints tc on  
    tc.Table_name = so.Name
    AND tc.Constraint_Type  = 'PRIMARY KEY'

LEFT JOIN information_schema.tables t on  
    t.Table_name = so.Name

CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT QUOTENAME(Column_Name) + ', '
    FROM information_schema.key_column_usage kcu
    WHERE kcu.Constraint_Name = tc.Constraint_Name
    ORDER BY ORDINAL_POSITION
    FOR XML PATH('')
) j (list)

WHERE
    xtype = 'U'
    AND name NOT IN ('dtproperties')
    -- AND so.name = 'ASPStateTempSessions'
;

Not to belabor the point, but here's the functionally equivalent example outputs for comparison:

-- 1 (scripting version)
create table [dbo].[ASPStateTempApplications] (  [AppId] int  NOT NULL ,  [AppName] char(280)  NOT NULL );  ALTER TABLE [dbo].[ASPStateTempApplications] ADD CONSTRAINT PK__ASPState__8E2CF7F908EA5793 PRIMARY KEY  ([AppId]);  

-- 2 (SSMS version)
create table [dbo].[ASPStateTempSessions] (
   [SessionId] nvarchar(88)  NOT NULL , 
   [Created] datetime  NOT NULL DEFAULT (getutcdate()), 
   [Expires] datetime  NOT NULL , 
   [LockDate] datetime  NOT NULL , 
   [LockDateLocal] datetime  NOT NULL , 
   [LockCookie] int  NOT NULL , 
   [Timeout] int  NOT NULL , 
   [Locked] bit  NOT NULL , 
   [SessionItemShort] varbinary(7000)  NULL , 
   [SessionItemLong] image(2147483647)  NULL , 
   [Flags] int  NOT NULL DEFAULT ((0))
);
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[ASPStateTempSessions] ADD CONSTRAINT PK__ASPState__C9F4929003317E3D PRIMARY KEY ([SessionId]);

..

Detracting factors:

It should be noted that I remain relatively unhappy with this due to the lack of support for indeces other than a primary key. It remains suitable for use as a mechanism for simple data export or replication.