describe

\describe

Displays a description of a database object

Synopsis

\describe [-a] [[catalog.]schema-pattern.]object-pattern

Description

Displays the database structure for a provided object name. This functionality relies upon support from the underlying JDBC driver and thus may fail against some platforms.

The names provided (catalog, schema-pattern, and object-pattern) are all interpreted as follows

If the name is not surrounded by double quotes, then the name is normalized according to the database specific normalization rules (these rules are defined in the internal jsqsh driver definition, and not all database vendors are currently properly defined, see "\help drivers" for details). So, for example, the following run while connected to DB2:

\describe mytab

is the equivalent of doing:

\describe MYTAB

because DB2 name normalization always converts to upper case, and matching is case sensitive in DB2, so the table must be named "MYTAB" to get results back. If you wish to force a specific case, surround the name with double quotes, like:

\describe "mytab"

which forces the name to be matched in exactly the case specified.

Please note that, other than the above notes, the behavior of describe in terms of wild card characters and name matching is entirely at the mercy of how the JDBC driver is implemented.

Options

--all (-a)

Shows all available information about the table that the JDBC driver provides. Without this flag \describe will attempt to keep the output to the more useful data.

catalog

The catalog (or database for some vendors) in which the object resides. If not provided then the current catalog is assumed.

schema-pattern

The name of the schema in which the object resides, which may include SQL wildcard characters. If the catalog name is provided and the schema is not, like:

\describe mydb..mytable

then all schemas within the catalog are matched. If the catalog name is not provided and the schema is not provided, like:

\describe mytable

Then:

1. If the JDBC driver is 1.7 or later and supports the necessary API's, to retrieve the current schema, then the current schema is assumed. Otherwise...
2. If the jsqsh driver definition has a query installed to fetch the current schema from the database, then the current schema is assumed. Otherwise...
3. All schemas are matched

object-pattern

The object name to be described, which may contain SQL wild cards to match multiple objects.

See also

\show, \tables, \drivers