Oracle PL/SQL Tutorial/System Tables Data Dictionary/user tab columns
30. Getting Information on Columns in Tables
You can get information about the columns in your tables from user_tab_columns.
SQL>
SQL> desc user_tab_columns;
Name Null? Type
TABLE_NAME NOT NULL VARCHAR2(30)
COLUMN_NAME NOT NULL VARCHAR2(30)
DATA_TYPE VARCHAR2(106)
DATA_TYPE_MOD VARCHAR2(3)
DATA_TYPE_OWNER VARCHAR2(30)
DATA_LENGTH NOT NULL NUMBER
DATA_PRECISION NUMBER
DATA_SCALE NUMBER
NULLABLE VARCHAR2(1)
COLUMN_ID NUMBER
DEFAULT_LENGTH NUMBER
DATA_DEFAULT LONG
NUM_DISTINCT NUMBER
LOW_VALUE RAW(32)
HIGH_VALUE RAW(32)
DENSITY NUMBER
NUM_NULLS NUMBER
NUM_BUCKETS NUMBER
LAST_ANALYZED DATE
SAMPLE_SIZE NUMBER
CHARACTER_SET_NAME VARCHAR2(44)
CHAR_COL_DECL_LENGTH NUMBER
GLOBAL_STATS VARCHAR2(3)
USER_STATS VARCHAR2(3)
AVG_COL_LEN NUMBER
CHAR_LENGTH NUMBER
CHAR_USED VARCHAR2(1)
V80_FMT_IMAGE VARCHAR2(3)
DATA_UPGRADED VARCHAR2(3)
HISTOGRAM VARCHAR2(15)
SQL>
SQL> -- create demo table
SQL> create table Employee(
2 ID VARCHAR2(4 BYTE) NOT NULL,
3 First_Name VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
4 Last_Name VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
5 Start_Date DATE,
6 End_Date DATE,
7 Salary Number(8,2),
8 City VARCHAR2(10 BYTE),
9 Description VARCHAR2(15 BYTE)
10 )
11 /
Table created.
SQL>
SQL> -- prepare data
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values ("01","Jason", "Martin", to_date("19960725","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("20060725","YYYYMMDD"), 1234.56, "Toronto", "Programmer")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("02","Alison", "Mathews", to_date("19760321","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("19860221","YYYYMMDD"), 6661.78, "Vancouver","Tester")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("03","James", "Smith", to_date("19781212","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("19900315","YYYYMMDD"), 6544.78, "Vancouver","Tester")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("04","Celia", "Rice", to_date("19821024","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("19990421","YYYYMMDD"), 2344.78, "Vancouver","Manager")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("05","Robert", "Black", to_date("19840115","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("19980808","YYYYMMDD"), 2334.78, "Vancouver","Tester")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("06","Linda", "Green", to_date("19870730","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("19960104","YYYYMMDD"), 4322.78,"New York", "Tester")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("07","David", "Larry", to_date("19901231","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("19980212","YYYYMMDD"), 7897.78,"New York", "Manager")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL> insert into Employee(ID, First_Name, Last_Name, Start_Date, End_Date, Salary, City, Description)
2 values("08","James", "Cat", to_date("19960917","YYYYMMDD"), to_date("20020415","YYYYMMDD"), 1232.78,"Vancouver", "Tester")
3 /
1 row created.
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> -- display data in the table
SQL> select * from Employee
2 /
ID FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME START_DAT END_DATE SALARY CITY DESCRIPTION
---- ---------- ---------- --------- --------- ---------- ---------- ---------------
01 Jason Martin 25-JUL-96 25-JUL-06 1234.56 Toronto Programmer
02 Alison Mathews 21-MAR-76 21-FEB-86 6661.78 Vancouver Tester
03 James Smith 12-DEC-78 15-MAR-90 6544.78 Vancouver Tester
04 Celia Rice 24-OCT-82 21-APR-99 2344.78 Vancouver Manager
05 Robert Black 15-JAN-84 08-AUG-98 2334.78 Vancouver Tester
06 Linda Green 30-JUL-87 04-JAN-96 4322.78 New York Tester
07 David Larry 31-DEC-90 12-FEB-98 7897.78 New York Manager
08 James Cat 17-SEP-96 15-APR-02 1232.78 Vancouver Tester
8 rows selected.
SQL>
SQL>
SQL> COLUMN column_name FORMAT a15
SQL> COLUMN data_type FORMAT a10
SQL> SELECT
2 column_name, data_type, data_length, data_precision, data_scale
3 FROM user_tab_columns
4 WHERE table_name = "EMPLOYEE";
COLUMN_NAME DATA_TYPE DATA_LENGTH DATA_PRECISION DATA_SCALE
--------------- ---------- ----------- -------------- ----------
ID VARCHAR2 4
FIRST_NAME VARCHAR2 10
LAST_NAME VARCHAR2 10
START_DATE DATE 7
END_DATE DATE 7
SALARY NUMBER 22 8 2
CITY VARCHAR2 10
DESCRIPTION VARCHAR2 15
8 rows selected.
SQL>
SQL> clear columns;
columns cleared
SQL>
SQL> -- clean the table
SQL> drop table Employee
2 /
Table dropped.
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>
30. Output report for user_tab_columns
SQL>
SQL> CREATE TABLE DEPT (DEPTNO NUMBER(2),DNAME VARCHAR2(14),LOC VARCHAR2(13) );
Table created.
SQL>
SQL> INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (10, "ACCOUNTING", "NEW YORK");
1 row created.
SQL> INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (20, "RESEARCH", "DALLAS");
1 row created.
SQL> INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (30, "SALES", "CHICAGO");
1 row created.
SQL> INSERT INTO DEPT VALUES (40, "OPERATIONS", "BOSTON");
1 row created.
SQL>
SQL> create or replace procedure desc_table( p_tname in varchar2 ) AUTHID CURRENT_USER as
2 begin
3 dbms_output.put_line(p_tname );
4 dbms_output.new_line;
5
6 for x in ( select column_name,data_type,substr(
7 decode( data_type,"NUMBER", decode( data_precision, NULL, NULL,
8 "("||data_precision||","||data_scale||")" ),
9 data_length),1,11) data_length,
10 decode( nullable,"Y","null","not null") nullable
11 from user_tab_columns
12 where table_name = upper(p_tname)
13 order by column_id )
14 loop
15 dbms_output.put_line( rpad(x.column_name,31) ||
16 rpad(x.data_type,20) ||
17 rpad(x.data_length,11) ||
18 x.nullable );
19 end loop;
20 end;
21 /
Procedure created.
SQL>
SQL> grant execute on desc_table to public
2 /
Grant succeeded.
SQL>
SQL> set serveroutput on format wrapped
SQL> exec desc_table( "dept" )
dept
DEPTNO NUMBER (2,0) null
DNAME VARCHAR2 14 null
LOC VARCHAR2 13 null
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL>
SQL> drop table dept;
Table dropped.
SQL>
SQL>
SQL>