Why does sp_columns return no results?

Question

I'm trying to "describe" a table for a different post I have on StackOverflow, but when I run sp_columns, no results or rows are shown.

sp_columns assignee

Results:

A bunch of column headers...

What's wrong with my database, and why doesn't this work?

Answer 1

Instead of sp_columns use catalog views (many of these sp_ procedures are not updated for new features).

SELECT name, system_type_id, ...
  FROM sys.columns
  WHERE [object_id] = OBJECT_ID('dbo.TableName');
  ---- yes this is important ----^^^^

Also, make sure you're in the right database, obviously.

Answer 2

For a specific schema, try:

sp_columns tableName, schemaName