System Views
System views are virtual tables that expose metadata that relates to many different aspects of SQL Server. Several different types of views target different data needs. SQL Server 2012 offers an extended number of system views and view types that should meet most, if not all, your metadata needs.
The available system views can be shown in the Object Explorer in SSMS. Figure 7.2 shows the Object Explorer with the System Views node highlighted. There are far too many views to cover in detail in this chapter, but we cover each type of view and provide an example of each to give you some insight into their value. Each system view is covered in detail in SQL Server Books Online, which includes descriptions of each column in the view. ...
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