Why can't I see the “value” column in SYS.EXTENDED_PROPERTIES?

Question

I have some extended property column descriptions in a SQL Server 2008 database, and when I login to management studio and do a simple query:

Select * from SYS.EXTENDED_PROPERTIES;

I can see all the columns in that table, including the extended property "value" column.

When I have an ASP.NET page login to the db, perform that query, and then bind it to a GridView, it can select everything BUT the "value" column.

Is there some special permission my ASP db user needs to see the value column?

Answer 1

The 'value' column uses the sql_variant data type which may be causing the problem...but I can't replicate this. Is the app using the same credentials as you're using in Management Studio.