INDEXKEY_PROPERTY (Transact-SQL)

object_ID

Is the object identification number of the table or indexed view. object_ID is int.

index_ID

Is the index identification number. index_ID is int.

key_ID

Is the index key column position. key_ID is int.

property

Is the name of the property for which information will be returned. property is a character string and can be one of the following values.

Value	Description
ColumnId	Column ID at the key_ID position of the index.
IsDescending	Order in which the index column is stored. 1 = Descending 0 = Ascending

int

Returns NULL on error or if a caller does not have permission to view the object.

A user can only view the metadata of securables that the user owns or on which the user has been granted permission. This means that metadata-emitting, built-in functions such as INDEXKEY_PROPERTY may return NULL if the user does not have any permission on the object. For more information, see Metadata Visibility Configuration and Troubleshooting Metadata Visibility.

In the following example, both properties are returned for index ID 1, key column 1 in the Production.Location table.

USE AdventureWorks2008R2;
GO
SELECT 
    INDEXKEY_PROPERTY(OBJECT_ID('Production.Location', 'U'),
        1,1,'ColumnId') AS [Column ID],
    INDEXKEY_PROPERTY(OBJECT_ID('Production.Location', 'U'),
        1,1,'IsDescending') AS [Asc or Desc order];

Here is the result set:

Column ID   Asc or Desc order 
----------- ----------------- 
1           0

(1 row(s) affected)

Reference