I know in Oracle you can use DBA_TAB_COLUMNS (or ALL_TAB_COLUMNS). My SQL Server knowledge is very rusty, but can't you use the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS view?
Arthur Fuller explores the value of identity columns and the usefulness of their arbitrary values and discusses ways to use SQL Server 2000's IDENTITY_INSERT setting. Despite your numerous ...
I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you want to speed up your application, don't look at your code, look at your data access. The two slowest things you can do in application development are ...