My apologies Brandi - you're right - you did say that in your edit. However, you also just addressed constraining the columns entry when I asked a very simple question: How can I generate a query that produces results just like sp_columns (which unfortunately returns all tables and columns, when I only need a few). No one could produce that answer - which seems simple to me in what may well be my ignorance, but after all there is sp_columns so even more simply put - I want to be able to run that query and specify tables, and columns I know I need.

To answer your additional question: we are the largest financial services company in the world and we get databases from our clients who run a wide variety of systems (probably about 25-50 different ones). So we often get columns or "fields" if you will, that we need to convert into our internal SQL Server systems. Sometimes we use SSIS, but not always since we see databases from ancient systems like DataPoint, dBase, FoxPro, Paradox, Oracle, Sybase, etc. etc. - too many to name. Unfortunately for us, there is no "one size fits all". Worse, we often have to map data fields in other systems to the "best guess' in our own. This is the genesis of what we do.

The core problem we are trying to address is that Rules and Regs (SEC, Government, etc.) require (!!!) that we NEVER truncate data and yet we run into it all the time. Right now this is all done by 'eyeball' and I thought if I had a good query that could examine a column and its length, then be able to trim the incoming contents and check its length - I could then produce a report showing what records just are not going to fit. This is basically what I am trying to address, along with wishing daily that the world used just one database!!

Sorry if I sounded miffed, its just the work we do - day after day of analysis in the "coalmines" of data manipulation.