Use INFORMATION_SCHEMA Views to Get Object Details in SQL Analytics Endpoint | Microsoft Fabric Tutorial for Beginners and Advance Users

Use INFORMATION_SCHEMA Views to Get Object Details in SQL Analytics Endpoint

Microsoft Fabric Tutorial

📘 Overview

Microsoft Fabric's SQL Analytics Endpoint provides access to metadata through INFORMATION_SCHEMA views. These system views are useful for retrieving information about tables, columns, and other objects in your database environment. Whether you're documenting your data models or performing audits, this tutorial will help you get started with practical queries.

✅ Topics Covered

• What INFORMATION_SCHEMA views are
• How to query for tables, columns, and view metadata
• Practical SQL examples using SQL Analytics Endpoint
• How to analyze object relationships and structure
• Best practices for documentation and audit scenarios

📂 What are INFORMATION_SCHEMA Views?

INFORMATION_SCHEMA views are built-in system views that expose metadata about your database. They are ANSI-compliant and widely used to inspect objects like:

• INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES – list of all tables and views
• INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS – column names, data types, and constraints
• INFORMATION_SCHEMA.VIEWS – definitions of views
• INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA – schema-level metadata

🧪 Sample SQL Queries

-- List all tables in the current database
SELECT * 
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES 
WHERE TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE';

-- List all columns in a specific table
SELECT COLUMN_NAME, DATA_TYPE, IS_NULLABLE
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS 
WHERE TABLE_NAME = 'SalesData';

-- Find all views
SELECT * 
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.VIEWS;

-- Check schema names
SELECT * 
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA;

🔍 Best Practices

• Use INFORMATION_SCHEMA queries as part of your data cataloging strategy.
• Automate metadata snapshots for auditing or schema drift detection.
• Combine with Power BI or Excel for reporting on metadata trends.
• Use WHERE filters to narrow down to user-defined objects (avoid system tables).

🎥 Watch the Full Tutorial

Blog created with help from ChatGPT and Gemini.