Hi All,
Today I came across an article on MSDN regarding the meta-data of SQL Server objects which led me to the “Catalog Views“.

What is it?
“Catalog View” provides the information which is used by SQL Server Database Engine. So one thing is – “you can definitely trust this method“.

Moreover, Microsoft recommends this method for information retrieval because it is the most efficient way to obtain, transform, and present customized forms of this information. To make the information retrieval easier, Microsoft has categorized almost every object available in SQL Server in following catalog categories. (Pls see below).

You will also notice that some catalog views are using other ready-made views. Well, they are categorized in mainly 2 types: base views and derived views.

•  The base view contains a subset of columns and a super-set of rows.
•  The derived view contains a super-set of columns and a subset of rows.

Please find more on these 2 views and proper usage at MSDN here.

Note: Catalog views do not contain information about replication, backup, database maintenance plan, or SQL Server Agent catalog data.

I hope you will find this interesting just like me.
Thanks, Khilit