SQL Server 2008 - How did I solve the need to check the column definitions quickly?
Run the following script to create the function:


IF EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.objects WHERE name = 'getColDef')
    DROP FUNCTION dbo.getColDef;
GO

CREATE FUNCTION getColDef (@TAB_AND_COL VARCHAR(256))
RETURNS @RESULT TABLE
   ([Table] varchar(256),
    [Column] varchar(256),
    [Type] varchar(64),
    [Length] int,
    [IsNullable] varchar(5),
    [FK_Name] varchar(256),
    [Index_Name] varchar(256),
    [Trigger_Name] varchar(256))
AS
BEGIN
   DECLARE @TNAME VARCHAR(256), @COL VARCHAR(256), @CHARIX INT

    SET @CHARIX = CHARINDEX('.', @TAB_AND_COL)
    SET @TNAME = LEFT(@TAB_AND_COL, CHARINDEX('.',@TAB_AND_COL)-1)
    SET @COL = SUBSTRING(@TAB_AND_COL, @CHARIX + 1, LEN(@TAB_AND_COL) - LEN(@TNAME))

    INSERT INTO @RESULT
        SELECT DISTINCT OBJECT_NAME(c.OBJECT_ID) [Table],c.name [Column],t.name AS [Type],c.max_length AS [Length]
            , CASE C.is_nullable WHEN 1 THEN 'Yes' ELSE 'No' END AS [IsNullable]
            , FK.FK_NAME as FK_Name
            , IDX.IdxName as Index_Name
            , trig.name as Trigger_Name
        FROM sys.columns c
        JOIN sys.types t ON c.user_type_id=t.user_type_id
        LEFT JOIN 
            (SELECT f.name AS FK_NAME
                , OBJECT_NAME(f.parent_object_id) AS FK_TABNAME
            FROM sys.foreign_keys AS f
            INNER JOIN sys.foreign_key_columns AS fc ON f.OBJECT_ID = fc.constraint_object_id
            WHERE OBJECT_NAME(f.parent_object_id) = @TNAME
            AND COL_NAME(fc.parent_object_id,fc.parent_column_id) = @COL) FK 
                ON FK.FK_TABNAME = OBJECT_NAME(c.OBJECT_ID)
        LEFT JOIN 
            (SELECT i.Name AS IdxName, OBJECT_NAME(i.object_ID) AS TName, c.Name AS CName
            FROM  sys.indexes i 
            JOIN sys.index_columns ic ON i.index_id = ic.index_id AND i.object_id = ic.object_id
            JOIN sys.columns c ON ic.column_id = c.column_id AND ic.object_id = c.object_id
            WHERE c.name = @COL
            AND OBJECT_NAME(c.object_id) = @TNAME) IDX 
                ON IDX.TName = OBJECT_NAME(c.object_id)
        LEFT JOIN sys.triggers trig ON trig.parent_id = c.object_id
        WHERE C.object_id = object_id(N''+ @TNAME +'') AND c.name = @COL

    RETURN
END



To execute the function, simply run the following script: 

SELECT * FROM getColDef('TABLENAME.COLUMN_NAME')

Similarly, you can get the column definitions for an entire table by executing the following script:


DECLARE @TABLENAME VARCHAR(256)
SET @TABLENAME &#61; 'TABLENAME' -- Put the name of the table here

DECLARE @RESULTS TABLE([Table] varchar(256),[Column] varchar(256),[Type] varchar(64),[Length] int,[IsNullable] varchar(5)
    ,[FK_Name] varchar(256),[Index_Name] varchar(256),[Trigger_Name] varchar(256))
DECLARE @ROW_NOW INT, @ROW_MAX INT, @COLNAME VARCHAR(256)

SELECT @ROW_NOW &#61; MIN(ROWNUM), @ROW_MAX &#61; MAX(ROWNUM) 
FROM (SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY name) ROWNUM, name FROM sys.columns WHERE OBJECT_NAME(object_id) &#61; @TABLENAME) SRC

WHILE @ROW_NOW &#60;&#61; @ROW_MAX 
BEGIN
    SELECT @COLNAME &#61; name FROM 
    (SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY name) ROWNUM, name FROM sys.columns WHERE OBJECT_NAME(object_id) &#61; @TABLENAME) SRC
    WHERE ROWNUM &#61; @ROW_NOW

    INSERT INTO @RESULTS
    SELECT * FROM getColDef(@TABLENAME+'.'+@COLNAME)

    SET @ROW_NOW &#61; @ROW_NOW + 1
END

SELECT * FROM @RESULTS ORDER BY [Column]