diff --git a/R/DSLiteServer.R b/R/DSLiteServer.R
index 5b0f7ea..2a8f10c 100644
--- a/R/DSLiteServer.R
+++ b/R/DSLiteServer.R
@@ -311,7 +311,11 @@ DSLiteServer <- R6::R6Class(
 
     #' @description List the names of the tables that can be assigned.
     tableNames = function() {
-      names(private$.tables)
+      if (length(private$.tables)) {
+        names(private$.tables)
+      } else {
+        vector(mode="character", length = 0)
+      }
     },
 
     #' @description Check a table exists.
@@ -322,7 +326,11 @@ DSLiteServer <- R6::R6Class(
 
     #' @description List the names of the resources (\code{resourcer::Resource} objects) that can be assigned.
     resourceNames = function() {
-      names(private$.resources)
+      if (length(private$.resources)) {
+        names(private$.resources)
+      } else {
+        vector(mode="character", length = 0)
+      }
     },
 
     #' @description Check a resource (\code{resourcer::Resource} object) exists.
diff --git a/inst/examples/datashield.R b/inst/examples/datashield.R
index b490934..c2d362e 100644
--- a/inst/examples/datashield.R
+++ b/inst/examples/datashield.R
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ dslite.server$config()
 data("logindata.dslite.cnsim")
 conns <- datashield.login(logindata.dslite.cnsim, assign=T, variables=c("GENDER","PM_BMI_CONTINUOUS"), id.name="ID")
 
+# list all available tables
+datashield.tables(conns)
+
+# list all available resources
+datashield.resources(conns)
+
 # check assigned variables
 datashield.symbols(conns)