---
title: "sp_catalogs (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs"
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ms.date: "03/14/2017"
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# sp_catalogs (Transact-SQL)
[!INCLUDE[tsql-appliesto-ss2008-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md](../../includes/tsql-appliesto-ss2008-xxxx-xxxx-xxx-md.md)]

  Returns the list of catalogs in the specified linked server. This is equivalent to databases in [!INCLUDE[ssNoVersion](../../includes/ssnoversion-md.md)].  
  
 ![Topic link icon](../../database-engine/configure-windows/media/topic-link.gif "Topic link icon") [Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions](../../t-sql/language-elements/transact-sql-syntax-conventions-transact-sql.md)  
  
## Syntax  
  
```  
  
sp_catalogs [ @server_name = ] 'linked_svr'  
```  
  
## Arguments  
`[ @server_name = ] 'linked_svr'`
 Is the name of a linked server. *linked_svr* is **sysname**, with no default.  
  
## Result Sets  
  
|Column name|Data type|Description|  
|-----------------|---------------|-----------------|  
|**Catalog_name**|**nvarchar(**128**)**|Name of the catalog|  
|**Description**|**nvarchar(**4000**)**|Description of the catalog|  
  
## Permissions  
 Requires SELECT permission on the schema.  
  
## Examples  
 The following example returns catalog information for the linked server named `OLE DB ODBC Linked Server #3`.  
  
> [!NOTE]  
>  For **sp_catalogs** to provide useful information, the `OLE DB ODBC Linked Server #3` must already exist.  
  
```  
USE master;  
GO  
EXEC sp_catalogs 'OLE DB ODBC Linked Server #3';  
```  
  
## See Also  
 [sp_addlinkedserver (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-addlinkedserver-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_columns_ex (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-columns-ex-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_column_privileges (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-column-privileges-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_foreignkeys (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-foreignkeys-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_indexes (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-indexes-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_linkedservers (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-linkedservers-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_primarykeys (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-primarykeys-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_tables_ex (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-tables-ex-transact-sql.md)   
 [sp_table_privileges (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-table-privileges-transact-sql.md)   
 [System Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)](../../relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/system-stored-procedures-transact-sql.md)