DESCRIBE COLUMNS¶

The DESCRIBE COLUMNS command lets you list information about table and view columns.

Note

DESCRIBE commands use CPU to increase usability.

Syntax¶

DESC[RIBE] COLUMNS [ DATABASE  <database_name> ] [ SCHEMA <schema_name> ] TABLE <table_name> [LIKE 'pattern'] | VIEW <view_name>[LIKE 'pattern']

Parameters¶

Parameter	Parameter Type	Description
`DATABASE`	Identifier	Filters by a specific database
`SCHEMA`	Identifier	Filters by a specific schema
`TABLE`	Identifier	Identifies the specific table for which you want to retrieve column descriptions
`LIKE`	STRING literal	String pattern to match

Output¶

Using the DESCRIBE COLUMNS command generates the following output:

Parameter	Data Type	Description
`database_name`	`TEXT`	Displays the name of the database
`schema_name`	`TEXT`	Displays the name of the schema
`table_name`	`TEXT`	Displays the name of the table
`is_nullable`	`TEXT`	Displays whether the column can contain `null` values
`table_id`	`INTEGER`	Displays the ID of the table
`column_name`	`TEXT`	Displays the name of the column
`type_name`	`TEXT`	Displays the data type of the column
`default_value`	`INTEGER`	Displays the column default value if one exists
`created`	`DATE`	Displays the table’s creation date and timestamp
`column_size`	`INTEGER`	Displays the size of the column in bytes

Examples¶

DESCRIBE COLUMNS DATABASE master SCHEMA public TABLE nba;

database_name|schema_name|table_name|is_nullable|column_name|type_name|default_value|created            |column_size|
-------------+-----------+----------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+-------------------+-----------+
master       |public     |nba       |true       |name       |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |team       |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |number     |INT      |0            |2023-08-08 06:47:47|4          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |position   |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |age        |INT      |0            |2023-08-08 06:47:47|4          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |height     |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |weight     |INT      |0            |2023-08-08 06:47:47|4          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |college    |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |salary     |INT      |0            |2023-08-08 06:47:47|4          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |name0      |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |

DESCRIBE COLUMNS DATABASE master SCHEMA public TABLE nba LIKE '%name%';

database_name|schema_name|table_name|is_nullable|column_name|type_name|default_value|created            |column_size|
-------------+-----------+----------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+-------------------+-----------+
master       |public     |nba       |true       |name       |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |
master       |public     |nba       |true       |name0      |TEXT     |             |2023-08-08 06:47:47|0          |

Permissions¶

This command requires USAGE permission on the schema level.