Importing OLAP metadata in SQL Server via linked server results in out-of-range date - sql

Question

Currently, I am trying to extract metadata from an OLAP cube in SQL Server (via a linked server) using this simple query:
select *
into [dbo].[columns_metadata]
from openquery([LINKED_SERVER], '
select *
from $System.TMSCHEMA_COLUMNS
')
But in the result set, there is a column named RefreshedTime with values 31.12.1699 00:00:00.
Because of this value, the query gives this error message:
Msg 8114, Level 16, State 9, Line 1 Error converting data type (null)
to datetime.
The problem is that I need to run the query without specifying the columns in the SELECT statement.
Do you know a trick to avoid this error?

Answer 1

I know you wanted not to have to mention the columns explicitly, but in case nobody can suggest a way to have it handle the 1699-12-31 dates, then you can fallback to this:
select *
into [dbo].[columns_metadata]
from openquery([LINKED_SERVER], '
SELECT [ID]
,[TableID]
,[ExplicitName]
,[InferredName]
,[ExplicitDataType]
,[InferredDataType]
,[DataCategory]
,[Description]
,[IsHidden]
,[State]
,[IsUnique]
,[IsKey]
,[IsNullable]
,[Alignment]
,[TableDetailPosition]
,[IsDefaultLabel]
,[IsDefaultImage]
,[SummarizeBy]
,[ColumnStorageID]
,[Type]
,[SourceColumn]
,[ColumnOriginID]
,[Expression]
,[FormatString]
,[IsAvailableInMDX]
,[SortByColumnID]
,[AttributeHierarchyID]
,[ModifiedTime]
,[StructureModifiedTime]
,CStr([RefreshedTime]) as [RefreshedTime]
,[SystemFlags]
,[KeepUniqueRows]
,[DisplayOrdinal]
,[ErrorMessage]
,[SourceProviderType]
,[DisplayFolder]
from $System.TMSCHEMA_COLUMNS
')